Symbiosis
by Nemo the Unknown
Summary: Glynda was just a few seconds too late, and Ruby was horribly injured following a particularly nasty blast from Roman Torchwick. However, a strange creature has saved her life, and in exchange Ruby has found herself in something of a deal with the devil.
1. Encounter

_So… This is it…_

Ruby rose laid alone, bleeding out in some random back alley.

What kind of hero did she think she was, anyway? Taking on Roman Torchwick alone like that?

 _I guess I got what I deserved…_

Things had been going so well too. She had dealt with those thugs easily enough. Then Roman had run off and she had followed, then he got on that Bullhead and threw that Dust crystal at her, and then…

 _I'm sorry Yang… Dad…_

Ruby Rose shed a single tear. At least they would know what happened with her, not like with mom. They hadn't even found a body to bury when she disappeared.

 _I guess there's not much left of me either…_

That explosion hadn't just shattered her Aura. It had obliterated it, and her body paid the price. Summoning up what little energy she had left, Ruby tilted her neck to look at what remained of her broken body. It wasn't pretty. One arm hung on by barely a tendon, the bone and muscle sheared clean through. Her leg was bent at an angle that made her stomach churn. If she had the energy, she would have retched. As it was, she just shifted her head, trying to look anywhere but the mangled remains of her own body. Distantly, she noticed the Bullhead that held Roman engaged in combat, some huntsman or huntress sending a torrent of hail at the craft, even as it spat fire back at the same roof she had been launched from.

 _At least… At least someone will catch him…_

Ruby Rose smiled a wan, regretful smile. As her vision faded, she noticed something that hadn't been there a moment ago. It was… A blob. Pure black, like some sort of three-dimensional void in space, pulsing and oozing as it followed the trail of blood that her body had left as she was flung off the roof. Finally, as it reached her foot, it stopped, shifting imperceptibly, as if regarding her.

 _What… What is that…?_

After a moment, it moved forward again, swallowing her foot and working its way up her leg.

 _No… NO! NONONO STOP! STOP IT!_

As it crawled forward, oozing and spreading up her leg, Ruby kicked feebly, trying to swat at it with her less injured arm, the blob only rippling slightly where she struck it. It felt… wrong. It was soft and squishy like skin, but at the same time it felt unnaturally smooth, like a frog or a salamander.

 _No! Please… I don't… I don't want… to die…_

As her vision faded, the last thing Ruby Rose saw was the darkness spreading, covering her entire body like some sort of sick, twisted bodysuit. She felt it climbing up her neck, across her face…

And then, nothing.

* * *

Ruby awoke in a void.

That was the only way to describe it. Nothing but pure, blinding, white nothingness all around. The surface she sat on felt solid enough, but she had no idea what it was. As far as she could tell, there were no shadows, no reflections, nothing to indicate what she was sitting on, or where she was; whether she was upside down or right side up, looking up or down or left or right. If she focused, she could make out something that vaguely sounded like voices, if she was hearing them from under fifteen layers of pillows.

Pulling herself to her feet, Ruby was hit by an overwhelming sense of vertigo, and she fell back to her knees, heaving. However, nothing came, and after a few moments she stumbled back to her feet. Taking a single step, Ruby felt another wave of nausea coming on, though less intense than before. As it faded, she took another step, and another, the nausea growing less and less powerful with each one, but still very much present.

Eventually, as Ruby got accustomed to the feeling of walking once more, her vision cleared up enough that she could properly investigate her surroundings. As she did, she noticed a shape in the distance, far enough away that she hadn't seen it in the haze that had surrounded her since waking up. Making a slow stumble in the direction of the figure, Ruby did the only thing she could.

"Hey!"

Her voice came out as a rasp, like she hadn't had anything to drink in a week. Still, it was enough to get the figure's attention, and it began making its way over to the limping girl. As it did, she was able to make out its shape better; It was shaped like a person, but there were no identifiable features, just a silhouette. There were no eyes, no mouth, nothing. The only thing that stood out was the cloak, fluttering slightly as the figure moved, just as pitch black as the rest of… whoever it was. Ruby stumbled again, falling at it's feet and panting hard from the exertion. Every step burned, and it felt like she had just run a marathon. Maybe she had. It wasn't like she had anyway to measure distance. Catching her breath, she heard a voice that made her heart stop and her blood run cold.

" _Ruby…"_

The voice sounded like a whisper, and yet it she had no trouble hearing it. It was like the voice came from everywhere at once, and it sounded off in a way that made her head spin. It sounded like… like it was coming from inside her own head. Even more importantly, however, was just who it sounded like.

"...Mom?"

Looking up, Ruby began to recognize a few prominent features of the figure. The flowing cloak, the hair, even the posture. Without a doubt, Ruby Rose was looking at the silhouette of her own mother. Without sparing a moment, Ruby jumped up, pulling the silhouette into a silent hug, tears running down her face as the figure laid a hand on her head.

" _No…"_

Pulling her head back, Ruby looked up at the silhouette of her mother.

"What?"

Ruby barely put up a fight as the figure pulled her out of the hug and addressed her.

" _I am sorry, Ruby, but I am not Summer Rose."_

Ruby fell to her knees again, stricken.

"But… Who are you then? Where am I? What's going on!?"

" _Shhh,"_ The voice placated, _"I know you are feeling… lost, so please allow me to explain."_ The figure sat down next to Ruby, still the perfect image of her mother, even down to the way she sat. _"This is not how I first appeared to you. You may remember me saving your life in the alley."_

Ruby gasped.

"You- You're that blob thing!" She exclaimed. "I thought you were gonna eat me or something!"

The voice chuckled, the silhouette patting Ruby's shoulder.

" _Oh no. That was not my goal. Or at least, not my immediate goal."_

"W-what? What does that mean?" Ruby tried to pull away from the silhouette fearfully.

" _I'm sorry,"_ The voice laughed, _"I couldn't help it. But no. I do not need nutrients the same way you do. Rather, I feed on aura."_

"Aura? You mean you're eating my soul!?" Ruby shrieked.

" _Not at all!"_ The figure held up its hands non-threateningly, _"I don't need much. For most of the time, you should barely notice the difference, beyond perhaps a longer time to fully recover when your aura is depleted. It is better to keep a reliable source of food around rather than gorging myself whenever I get the chance."_

"Oh… Alright then, I guess…" Ruby slouched over, tired from the recent rush of revelations and fear. "Wait, does this mean I'm not dead?"

" _No."_ The figure stood up, offering a hand to Ruby. _"Thanks to my intervention, you are still alive, though not unharmed. I prevented you from perishing, though there was only so much I could do. I suspect you are at a hospital right now, truthfully."_

"Right... " Ruby sighed. "Yang's gonna kill me when she sees me."

" _Do not be so hard on yourself,"_ The voice chuckled, _"I suspect she will busy being relieved to kill you. She has already lost one family member after all."_

"Yeah, I guess." Ruby sighed. "Hey, how do you know about Yang anyway? And if you're supposed to be mom, why are you talking all weird?"

" _The answer to both of those questions is your aura. Your soul is the sum total of your experiences: Your thoughts, knowledge, and your memories all combine to form your aura, which is why every living person has a different semblance."_

"Right, I knew that." In fact, Ruby recognized the exact words the voice was using. It was the same speech that she had heard years ago when her aura was first unlocked.

" _When I consume a person's aura, that knowledge, those memories become my own. As I was rather hungry when I found you, I know quite a lot about you, Ruby Rose, though not anything that you do not know yourself."_

"Oh. I guess that makes sense." It really kind of didn't. "But why do you look and sound like Mom?"

" _That was to help put you at ease with myself. Make no mistake, I may look and sound like Summer Rose, but my words are my own. If you want, I could change to something else…"_

As it spoke, the voice cycled through several different voices, each one completely different from the last, but still uncomfortably familiar. There was her friends from school, Uncle Qrow, one of the teachers at Signal-

"No!" Ruby nearly shouted. "No, it-it's alright. At least I don't have to worry about hearing two Moms at once."

" _Of course."_

"By the way, what's your name? If you're not Mom, then I have to have something to call you besides 'That Voice'."

The voice was silent for a moment.

" _I have never had a name, or at least not one in your sense. I never had any need of one."_

"Well now you do!" Ruby insisted. "If you're gonna live in my head, then you've gotta have a name. Them's the rules."

" _Very well,"_ The voice sounded amused, _"How about 'Rose'?"_

"Works for me. Welcome to my head, Rose! I bet Yang's gonna flip when she sees you!"

" _That… may not be the best idea…"_

"What? Why not?"

" _There are… people, out in the world, who would do me, and by extension you harm if they were to learn of my existence. I believe it would be best if I remained a secret for the time being."_

"Oh. Yeah, I guess that would be bad." Ruby admitted. "So what do we do now, anyway?"

" _Now… I believe it is time for you to return to the land of the living. I would suggest you pretend as if you do not remember last night at all. It may be easier in the long run than creating a lie."_

As Rose spoke, Ruby could hear the background hum getting louder, resolving itself into distinct voices. There were several she didn't recognize, and one she did.

 _Ruby? Ruby! C'mon! I know you'll make it c'mon!_

* * *

"Ruby! C'mon!" Yang nearly shouted, nearly shaking her younger sister awake.

Finally, Ruby's eyes fluttered open, and for a second, Yang let herself hope.

"Mmh… Yang?" Ruby rasped, her throat dry and sore.

"Oh God, Ruby I was so scared!" Yang pulled her sister into a hug, crying. "I thought you were gonna die!"

"Yang!" Ruby whined, weakly. "I'm alright, I think…"

"Alright?" Yang pulled out of the hug to look Ruby in the eye. Ruby noticed that they were baggy and bloodshot, like she'd been crying for a while. "Ruby, you nearly died!"

"I did?" Ruby remembered Rose, and what she had said about revealing her existence. "What happened? I… don't remember…"

"Well, Miss Rose, allow me to fill in the blanks for you." Another voice cut in. Looking to the door, Ruby saw a group of three people. One was her dad, who seemed to deflate in relief when he saw her. The others were an old man in a suit and a younger blonde woman wearing a cape.

"Ruby, are you alright? Does anything hurt? Do you need me to get you anything?" He nearly babbled, rushing over to her side.

"Yeah, Dad. I'm fine."

" _Fine_ is not the first word I would use to describe your condition," The old man said, "Multiple lacerations, significant blood loss, and heavy trauma across your body. You're lucky to be alive, young lady."

"Heh, well, I guess I inherited Dad's aura reserves after all, huh?" Ruby chuckled, trying to play off her recent near death experience. The old man, _Professor Ozpin_ , Ruby realized, smiled at that.

"Yes, I suppose you did, didn't you?" Ozpin took a seat in one of the chairs to the side of her bed, the Blonde woman following him. She looked… guilty, for some reason. "Anyways, I suppose you will all be wanting some time alone after this recent ordeal, so I will try to make this quick. Ruby Rose, do you know who I am?"

"You're Professor Ozpin… Headmaster of Beacon Academy, right? What do you want with me?"

Immediately, Rose's words replayed in her mind.

 _There are people, out in the world, who would do me, and by extension_ you _harm if they were to learn of my existence…_

Was Ozpin one of those people?

The headmaster smiled warmly.

"Miss Rose, your father and I have been talking recently, and we have come to an agreement that given the events of last night, it may be better to ensure that you can handle yourself if, or rather _when_ this happens again, rather than hope that it does not. To that end, I would like to extend to you an invitation to attend Beacon academy for this upcoming semester."

Ruby gasped. She had always wanted to go to Beacon! It was where her parents went, and it was where Yang was going this year!

"I-I'd love to!" Ruby puffed up as much as she could in bed. It still hurt to stretch some of her injuries, and she could swear she felt a phantom pain where her arm had been nearly severed before, but it was all worth it if she could go to Beacon!

"Very well then." Ozpin stood up, smiling. "I will take care of the paperwork side of things. You should focus on making sure you are in top condition in time for initiation."

"Yes sir!" Ruby saluted, watching him walk out of the room. The blonde woman, however, stayed standing in the room, keeping a white knuckle grip on her riding crop.

"Miss Rose," She began, "I would like to… apologize, for what happened. Had I been faster in responding to that call, I might have been able to save you and your family a great deal of pain."

 _So that's why she looks so guilty…_ Ruby realized.

"It's alright," Ruby smiled, "Did you at least catch the guy?" The woman averted her eyes.

"Unfortunately… He was able to escape before I could disable his Bullhead. I'm sorry."

"Oh…" Ruby frowned for a moment, before pulling it back into a smile. "Well, at least no one died, right?" Ruby the woman smile ever so slightly at that.

"Yes, I suppose that is true."

And with that, the woman left the room.

* * *

 **So... Here I have _another story_. And not only is it a conventional fic like my first one, but it's also completely unplanned! Not a single piece of this has been planned out beyond my head. Like, at all. **

**¯\\_(ツ)_/¯**

 **Oh well. We're all going to die someday anyway. May as well write whatever the hell I feel like, yeah? As long as I'm writing something, that's better than my recent track record at this point. Maybe allowing myself to write shorter chapters will help too.**

 **Edit: Wasn't happy with the editing I did late last night, so I just hope that this doesn't unintentionally trigger an update for anyone. Just fixing a few mistakes.**


	2. Recovery

Two weeks after her 'incident', Ruby Rose was already hard at work preparing for her first day at Beacon. Dad, Yang, and even Uncle Qrow had all dedicated some of their time to helping her practice once she had recovered.

The doctor especially had been surprised with just how fast Ruby healed from her injuries, but, unable to find anything else strange, he simply dismissed it as a particularly strong aura.

When she asked Rose about it, the voice simply laughed, and said something about _"paying her back"._

Ruby was just glad to be back to what she knew; sparring and killing Grimm. Every day, Ruby woke up, ate as big a breakfast as she could, (Dad insisted on making sure she ate as much as she could to help with the healing process. Ruby couldn't bring herself to complain.) and set out for a long day of either sparring with Yang, or hunting with Qrow. When they returned, the whole family would sit around the table, eat another huge meal, and go their separate ways for the night. Dad and Qrow would go back to preparing for their own classes at Signal, and Yang might go off to tinker with Ember Celica, or listen to some music, or whatever she felt like doing that night. Typically, Ruby excused herself early, saying she was "tired from all that practice".

In reality, she was waiting for everyone else to go to sleep.

Once Dad, Yang, and maybe Qrow, if he was staying the night, finally nodded off, Ruby would spring into action.

Quickly changing out of her pajamas, Ruby snuck through the house and out into the woods, coming upon a small clearing where she could safely and privately exercise her newfound powers.

"Alright then, Rose," Ruby whispered, taking off her jacket, "Let's see what you can do."

" _Of course."_ The creature replied.

Ruby felt a warm sensation on the back of her neck, quickly working its way down her right arm until the entire limb felt like she had plunged it into a tub of warm water. When she looked down, she realized that Rose had completely engulfed her arm, leaving it pitch black with a set of wicked looking talons where her fingers were. For a brief moment, Ruby panicked, the memories of their initial meeting all too fresh in her mind.

" _Calm yourself,"_ Rose warned, _"Do not forget we share a link now."_

"Sorry, I just," Ruby trailed off, unsure of how to articulate the issue, "I'm just… scared. Scared of what happened, scared of going to Beacon so early, and scared of it happening again…" Her eyes burned, Ruby trying her best not to cry. Nothing made any sense anymore. It all felt so futile.

" _Shhh, I understand,"_ Rose comforted, _"You are afraid of leaving your friends and family, just as your mother did. You have no need to worry. So long as I am with you, I will ensure that you are able to protect your family, and more importantly, yourself."_

Ruby sniffled, wiping her eyes.

"Thanks, Rose." Ruby turned to look at her arm, still covered in whatever weird stuff Rose was made of. Now that she thought about it, her arm looked kind of like a Beowolf's, the entire limb jet black, except for the claws themselves. Those were a pale white, like bones. "Wow," Ruby whispered, "How'd you do this anyway?"

" _These claws are made from the same bone and flesh as the rest of your body,"_ Rose replied, _"I simply… moved it around. That said, I cannot do much more than this for the time being; I am limited by your body's own stores of nutrients."_

"Really? Guess I should make sure to drink plenty of milk, huh?" Ruby joked.

" _Indeed, that would be helpful,"_ Rose concurred, _"But that is not all I can do. Watch this."_

With what she could have sworn sounded like a giggle, Ruby felt her arm lift involuntarily, before slashing downwards. As it did, her arm seemed to bend like putty, stretching several feet to carve deep gouges into a tree before retracting back to arm's length, like some sort of grotesque whip made of flesh and bone. Ruby stumbled back for a moment, panicking once again, but she quashed it down, trying to control her breathing.

"God… that's crazy," She breathed in between gasps. Visions of her arm, nearly severed and connected only by a few ligaments flashed through her mind. An unpleasant thought flashed through her mind. "Hey, do I have to worry about you taking control of my body like that again?"

" _Not if you do not want me to."_ Ruby felt her arm raise involuntarily again, and she quickly forced it back down. _"I can control your body, to a degree. However, I cannot override your own actions. Think of it like a twitch."_

"Oh, alright. Good." Her answer came out a little terse, but internally, Ruby was breathing a sigh of relief. She didn't want to consider the implications of Rose being able to force her to act against her own will. With that settled, there was really only one thing left to do.

"Alright, then. I guess we should, y'know, practice doing that claw thing," Ruby muttered weakly.

" _That would be a good idea."_

* * *

For the next few hours, Ruby practiced with her new claw. Between simple slashes and the whipping maneuver Rose had performed, Ruby felt like she must have cut down half the forest with her practice before she finally turned in for the night. Putting on her coat, Ruby realized that her right arm was still in 'claw form', as she dubbed it.

"Hey Rose, can you-" Ruby shivered as she felt the flesh retreat back up her arm, leaving it looking just the same as before. Ruby took a moment to investigate it, and finding no obvious mistakes, slipped it into the sleeve of her jacket. "Thanks…"

As she walked home, Ruby thought about what felt like a million things. There was Rose, and her near death, and how was _she_ supposed to hide _all of this_ from Yang, and Dad, and Uncle Qrow, and-

" _Ruby, you need to calm down. I understand that you feel nervous, but if you worry about every little issue, then you will burn yourself out."_

"How'd you know what I was thinking?"

" _Besides your elevated heart rate, short breaths, and sweating, you mean?"_ Oh yeah. Rose could see all that stuff, couldn't she? Or.. _feel_ it. Sort of. _"I can feel your emotions, Ruby. Remember?"_ There was a pause. _"It is not a pleasant experience."_

"Oh... sorry."

" _You need not apologize; you have a perfectly good reason to be nervous. All I am saying is that you do not need to suffer alone. I am here, and I plan to stay here for... as long as I need to."_

Ruby didn't miss the subtext in that last statement.

 _As long as you need to, huh?_

Walking home, Ruby hoped that day didn't any time soon.

* * *

"How're you doing, Rubes? Feeling alright?"

"I told you, Yang, I'm fine! The doctor said I was back to normal a week ago, remember?"

"I know what the doctor said, but how do you _feel?_ "

"I _feel_ like my _overprotective sister_ needs to trust me a little more, Yang."

Yang chuckled embarrassedly.

"Alright, I'll drop it." She leaned in conspiratorially. "But if anyone gives you a hard time, just point 'em out to me. I don't want my sister getting hurt during initiation because she used up her energy putting some bully in his place."

" _Yaaang…_ "

"Alright, alright, you made your point."

It was at that moment the newscast piped up.

" _The robbery was led by nefarious criminal Roman Torchwick…"_

 _Him._

Ruby felt Yang's grip on her shoulder tighten. He was the one who had nearly killed her that night. The one who _would_ have killed her, if not for Rose.

"What a scumbag…" Yang murmured. "If I ever catch him, he's gonna regret the day he was born, right Ruby?"

"Y-yeah, sis. You and me, beating up criminals and killing Grimm for life!"

Yang pulled Ruby into a hug.

"Heh. Good answer, sis."

As the airship finally touched down, Yang shot Ruby one last look, somewhere between guilt and nervousness.

"You sure you'll be fine? I can stick around if you want…"

"I'll be _fine,_ " Ruby assured her, "You can go hang out with your friends. I'll see you at the orientation."

Yang smiled, though it still looked more guilty than happy.

"Alright, sis. I know when I'm not wanted."

"Yaaang! Stop being dramatic!"

The two sisters laughed as Yang ran off to join her friends, Ruby smiling and waving.

" _Finally. I was starting to think she would never leave."_

"She just cares a lot," Ruby retorted, "She's been like that ever since I got out of the hospital."

" _That does not make it any less annoying. It is *incredibly* difficult not having any way to communicate when you are with other people."_

"Yeah, well that's how it is, I guess." Ruby picked a direction and started walking, not really sure where to go.

" _Ruby,"_

"I mean, yeah you're not comfortable around all these people, and I'm nervous too,"

" _Ruby."_

"But we can't just pass up a chance to go to _Beacon_. It'd look super crazy if I just told Ozpin _'Nope! No thanks!'_ -"

" _RUBY!"_

"Wha- WHOAH!" Ruby stumbled, her foot caught on a pile of luggage she had very nearly walked into. Flailing wildly, Ruby managed to regain her footing before she tripped into the sidewalk.

 _ **"What are you doing!?"**_

"Huh? Who-?"

"Do you have any idea of the damage you could have caused?" A white-haired girl screeched. She picked up one of the cases that Ruby had knocked over. "This is Dust. Mined and purified from the Schnee quarry!"

"I know what Dust is…" Ruby pouted, coughing as a plume of Dust flew into her face.

" _Oh dear…"_ Rose muttered.

"Are you even listening to me?" The girl continued, waving around the vial. "Is any of this sinking in? What do you have to say for yourself?!"

As Ruby's head reared back, Rose made a split-second decision. The young reaper's arm came flying up, covering her mouth just as Dad and everyone else had told her to do when she was a kid. Unfortunately…

"You- you slapped me…" The girl whispered, almost awestruck at the sheer gall of the action. Quickly, however, she launched back into her tirade with even more vigor than before. "Unbelievable! How did someone so clumsy even get into this school!?"

"I'm sorry…" Ruby whimpered.

"This isn't your ordinary combat school," The girl continued, absolutely livid, "It's not just sparring and practice, you know! We're here to fight monsters, so... watch where you're going!"

With that, the girl stormed off, leaving Ruby in a daze.

"Oooh… Great going there, Ruby…" She muttered, falling to the floor.

" _If it makes you feel any better, that was mostly my fault,"_ Rose commented, _"I am… unused to moving your body naturally."_

"Well great going there," Ruby shot back sarcastically, "We only slapped a girl."

" _At least you did not sneeze all over her."_

"Yeah, I guess you're right," She admitted, "You stopped me from spraying snot all over her, so thanks for that. I guess."

" _Of course."_

Ruby closed her eyes and sighed. Maybe she should have asked Yang to stick around after all.

"Welcome to Beacon…" She mumbled.

"Hey... I'm Jaune." A voice suddenly said. Opening an eye, she saw a gangly blonde boy offering a her a hand.

"Aren't you the guy that threw up on the ship?"

* * *

"Hey Ruby! I saved you a spot!"

"Oh, Hey, I gotta go! I'll see you after the ceremony!"

Making her way over to her sister, Ruby wondered whether every day was going to be like today.

" _That Jaune boy seemed… inexperienced..."_ Rose mused. Ruby had to agree. Jaune was a nice enough guy, yeah, but maybe not her first choice to watch her back against the Grimm.

"So how's your day going so far, sis?"

Ruby sighed.

"Well, I tripped over a girl's luggage, got yelled at for tripping over the girl's luggage, and then accidentally slapped her."

"Yikes," Yang winced, "How'd that happen?"

"I had to sneeze!" Ruby defended. "I didn't want to cover her in snot or anything!"

"Well, at least you tried," Yang giggled, "You can't win 'em all, little sister."

"Yeah, but I still wanna apologize to her…"

" _ **You!"**_

"Eep!"

" _Speak of the devil…"_

"I'msosorryaboutthismorningitwasanaccident-" The girl cut her off with a shush.

"I… Understand that what happened this morning was an accident," She started, "And I realize that you didn't _intend_ to hit me."

"Yeah, I'm so sorry about that-!"

"I realize I may have… Overreacted," she admitted, "And part of the blame falls on me for waving that bottle around so carelessly. So, I would like to apologize, on behalf of the Schnee Dust Company."

"Oh, y-yeah, it's fine!" Ruby stammered, "I mean, it was also kinda my fault, so no harm no foul right?"

"I suppose. Perhaps we should start over." The girl bowed, "My name is Weiss Schnee, heiress of the Schnee Dust Company."

"Ruby. Ruby Rose." She tried to mimic Weiss' curtsy, but ended up almost tripping over her own feet. "I hope we can be friends."

"Don't push your luck," Weiss sniffed, sighing, "I suppose I can't fault you for trying, at least. I hope our next meeting is more… pleasant, Ruby Rose." With that, she walked off.

" _That was… unexpected."_ Rose finally said. _"Not unpleasant, just unexpected."_

"Yeah, you and me both…" Ruby muttered.

Suddenly, the sound of a clearing throat caught the attention of everyone in the room.

"I'll... keep this brief."

As Professor Ozpin gave his _definitely super important_ speech, Ruby let her thoughts wander.

" _Are you still sure about attending Beacon, even after the events of today?"_

"Yeah, it's only been one day, so far…" Ruby whispered, keeping her voice low enough to avoid any attention. "Today was just a rough patch. I even made up with that Weiss girl."

" _That is true; I suppose only time will tell," Rose admitted, "Just be sure that you do not allow your guard to drop as a result. I still do not trust Ozpin…"_

"Hello? Remnant to Ruby…"

"Huh? Oh! What's up, Yang?" Ruby did her best to sound nonchalant.

"Geez, Ruby, you're almost as out of it as Professor Ozpin looks," Yang joked, "I just said we should go get changed for bed."

"Oh, right," Ruby chuckled, "I was just… thinking. About stuff."

"Cute guys, maybe? I saw that boy you walked in with."

"Yaang! No! Gross!" Ruby complained, giving her sister a playful shove, "I was just thinking about… weapons. And stuff."

"Alright, alright, I get it," Yang grinned, "But don't forget what I said. I'm here for you if you need it."

"Yeah," Ruby sighed, "Thanks Yang."

* * *

 **The more things change, the more they stay the same, huh?**

 **Ugh, Jesus Christ I'm tired as hell. Just want to finally get this chapter out. Might have skimped on the editing as a result, but what can ya do? It all reads well enough that nobody's going to have any trouble understanding what's being said.**

 **That said I noticed a lot of the reviews were in something of the same vein, so I'll say it here:**

 **Rose is _a_ symbiote, as in a creature that relies on a symbiotic relationship with its host to survive, but she is not _the_ symbiote, AKA Venom, AKA any one of a dozen other Spiderman characters. Basically what I'm saying is that I reserve the right to allow Rose to diverge from "Regular Symbiote Powers" as needed.**

 **On a related note, maybe it's just me, but it feels like I'm not giving Rose enough focus. This story _is_ , ostensibly, about Ruby and Rose, and how they interact, but it feels like in this chapter Rose was more of an observer than an active character. Part of it is obviously just a matter of where they are and such, but I'm not sure if it feels right.**

 **Oh well. I need to sleep.**


	3. Initiation

"You seem awfully chipper this morning, Ruby."

"Yep! Why wouldn't I be? It's no more awkward small talk or getting to know you stuff, now. Today, I get to let my sweetheart do the talking."

" _I may not be the expert on these subjects, but I believe your attachment to your weapon may be… excessive."_ Rose observed. Ruby grimaced, but didn't answer.

"You alright Ruby?" Yang looked concerned.

"O-oh yeah! I'm fine! Just a, uh…" Ruby trailed off.

" _Headache."_

"A headache! Yeah, you don't need to worry Yang. I'm just a little nervous is all." Ruby chuckled nervously.

"Right… If you say so." Yang looked unconvinced. "Well, have you thought about teams yet? Who do you think you'll team up with?"

"I just kinda figured I'd be on your team," Ruby confessed, "Or something."

"Are you sure you don't want to try to find some… other people to team up with?" Yang started stroking her hair, a nervous habit of hers. "Not that I don't want to team up with you, but you can't just hang out with me for the next four years…"

"I know," Ruby sighed, "But I don't know anyone here. I got moved ahead two years, remember?"

"I know, sis." Yang pulled her sister into a hug. "I'm not saying we can't be on a team, I just want you to be able to make some friends here is all."

"Alright," Ruby conceded, pulling out of the hug, "I'll try to get teamed up with someone else, but you better not try to avoid getting teamed up with me, either."

Yang chuckled, ruffling Ruby's hair.

"Of course, sis."

Suddenly, the intercom sparked to life.

" _Would all first-year students please report to Beacon Cliff for initiation? Again, all first-year students report to Beacon Cliff immediately._ "

* * *

"Now, I'm sure many of you have heard rumors about the assignment of teams. Well, allow us to put an end to your confusion. Each of you will be given teammates... _today_."

Ruby groaned. How were they supposed to get along with someone they didn't even know?

"These teammates will be with you for the rest of your time here at Beacon, so it is within your best interests to be paired with someone with whom you can work well." Ozpin continued, "That said, the first person you make eye contact with will be your partner for the next four years."

"What?" Ruby hissed.

" _That does not seem… conducive to reliably forming cohesive teams."_ Rose murmured. _"What will you do if you are paired with a stranger? Or with Yang? Have you put any thought into how we will stay inconspicuous?"_

"I've been thinking about it," Ruby whispered back, "Sort of…"

"Miss Rose," Ozpin interjected, "I am well aware that many students attempt to 'play the system' and choose their partners, but I believe you would do well to focus on more… pressing issues."

"Oh!" Ruby jumped, crouching into a ready position. "Heh, sorry sir."

The Professor just smiled warmly, a stark contrast to the image of students being flung off the cliff.

As Yang went flying on one side, and Jaune stammered nervously on the other, Ruby tensed her muscles, waiting for her own pad to activate. She watched Yang soar through the air, felt the pad click beneath her, and with that, she was flying through the air.

* * *

Falling through the air, Ruby scanned the forest ahead of her, searching for a proper landing spot to make use of-

" _Watch out for that bird."_

"Huh?"

Ruby felt Rose crawling along her arm under her blouse, her fingers warping into wicked claws before it unconsciously swung in front of her, impacting something with a loud squawk and a burst of blood and feathers.

"Birdy, no!" Ruby cried.

Shoving her unwilling slaughter of an innocent bird to the back of her mind, Ruby zeroed in on a tree branch that looked big enough to hold her weight. Firing off a few rounds to slow herself down, Ruby unfurled Crescent Rose to its full size, hooking it on the branch and flipping around before jumping off, coming to a rest with a light crunch as she landed on a pile of grass and dead leaves.

After taking a moment to gawk at the other initiates executing their own landings, Ruby looked down at her own arm, still covered in blood and feathers from the unfortunate bird.

"Did you really have to kill it?" She moaned.

" _That bird was dead the moment you launched from the pad, regardless of what I did."_

The bloodstains quickly disappeared from her arm, consumed by Rose the same way she had 'consumed' Ruby nearly a month ago. Ruby only stared as the pitch black flesh receded, revealing regular, pale pink skin.

It was a sobering reminder that, despite how human she acted, Rose was not a human being; she had different morals and different priorities from Ruby. She couldn't help but wonder just how much Rose actually _cared_ about her. Would Rose be sad if she died? Would she even care? Or would she just move on and find someone else to live off of, continuing on as if Ruby had never existed? For that matter, did Rose even care about keeping her alive? Rose had mentioned that she would rather keep Ruby alive than suck out her entire soul at once, but the way she had said it made it sound like it was more out of practicality than sentimentality. When she got down to it… _Could she trust Rose?_

" _Ruby? We should get moving,"_ Rose shocked the girl out of her reverie. Taking one last look at her arm, satisfied that it was as it should be, Ruby set off at a jog for the northern end of the forest.

"So," Ruby muttered, "Where's Yang? She's our best bet, isn't she?"

" _Of the few people we know here, your sister does seem to be one of the strongest,"_ Rose agreed, _"But that Schnee girl seems like she would be a strong fighter herself. And you would not need to rationalize any… unusual behaviors to her like you would to Yang."_

"Yeah, that's true," Ruby admitted, "But I didn't really leave a good impression on her yesterday, did I? Y'know, after I _slapped her?_ "

" _I apologized for that already."_

"Yeah but I still slapped her, Rose! I don't think she's gonna just forget about that!"

" _That is incredibly childish. I do not think you have completely ruined your chances at friendship over such a simple mistake."_

"Yeah, well… She… kinda scares me…" Ruby admitted. She could hear Rose sighing mentally.

" _Very well. Are there any other people we know?"_

"There's Jaune…"

" _No."_

"But-!"

" _No. You would be better off with no partner at all."_

"Well that's mean, Rose," Ruby defended, "I mean yeah, he is kinda goofy, and maybe he's not the greatest fighter, but he seems nice, and you have to be pretty good to get into Beacon, don't you?"

" _A fair point, I suppose. I still would not trust him to support you in a fight. There is something… Off about him. Something he is not telling anyone."_

"Yeah, I guess," Ruby admitted, "Is there anyone else? I know Yang, Jaune, Weiss…"

" _Look out, Ruby."_

Looking up and skidding to a stop, Ruby caught sight of a pale white figure. A familiar pale, white figure.

Weiss Schnee sighed, visibly deflating.

"Well," She finally said, "I suppose there are worse partners. Ruby Rose, right?"

"Yep," Ruby grinned, "Don't worry about me, partner. Together we'll pass initiation, no problem!"

"I sincerely hope so," Weiss replied, "If I were to fail initiation because of my partner's incompetence…"

With that, she stalked off into the bushes, going not even twenty feet before spotting Jaune nailed to a tree. Weiss seemed to perk up a little at the sight.

"...Yes, there certainly are worse partners indeed…" She muttered, amused.

As Ruby jumped out herself, her face fell at what she saw.

 _So close. She was so close to having Jaune as a partner. Maybe he wasn't the best fighter, but he was nice..._

Meanwhile, she ignored the smug satisfaction Rose seemed to be emanating, silently lamenting how she somehow managed to get not one, but _two_ squares as her partners as Weiss left Jaune hanging from the tree, barely sparing him a second look.

" _I am liking this girl more every second,"_ Rose commented.

Ruby blew a raspberry in response.

* * *

"Hurry up, Ruby. I refuse to fail because you were unable to- What the?"

"Don't worry about me, Weiss," Ruby chattered, zipping to her side, "I can be super fast!"

Weiss stopped for a moment, dumbfounded.

"Just because I don't exactly know how to deal with people doesn't mean I don't know how to deal with monsters," Ruby declared, "You're about to see a whole different side of me today, Weiss!"

With that, Ruby sped off, leaving Weiss alone in the forest.

" _You do remember that Weiss is not nearly as fast as you are, right?"_

With an "Eep", Ruby skidded to a stop, making a quick one-eighty and rushing back to her partner, arriving just in time to see Weiss block a Beowolf's strike.

"Look out Weiss!" Ruby shouted, sprinting into the Grimm with scythe fully expanded and bisecting the offending creature. As Ruby took a position at her partner's back, the two huntresses in training guarding each other, she heard Weiss muttering under her breath.

"I am getting rather tired of all these distractions…"

"Well then," Ruby announced, cocking her rifle, "Let's make this quick!"

"Yes. Let's." Weiss agreed.

At that, the two girls sprang into action, quickly slaughtering the small pack of Beowolves that had encircled them. As the last Grimm collapsed into a smoking pile, Ruby turned to Weiss, eagerly awaiting the girl's opinion.

"So, are you convinced yet?" She gushed, folding up Crescent Rose. "I told you I could handle myself. Let's go!"

Weiss sighed, pinching the bridge of her nose as she followed along.

"I will admit that, despite your age, you have shown yourself to be at least competent as a huntress. While I'm not sure what the Headmaster saw in you to allow you in early like he did, I suppose that you have the potential to be a rather adept Huntress, if you learned a little more restraint and discipline."

"Gee, thanks…" Ruby grumbled, deflating slightly at Weiss' comments. "'Least she doesn't hate me…" She mumbled.

" _Weiss may be strict, but I believe that she does care, in the end,"_ Rose defended, _"Give it some time."_

Ruby grumbled in agreement, trailing a few yards behind Weiss as the white-haired girl marched through the underbrush.

"Do you even know where we're going?" Ruby asked.

"I know exactly where we're going," Weiss replied, "We're going... to... the forest temple!"

Ruby sighed in exasperation.

"Oh, stop it," Weiss defended, "You don't know where we are, either!"

"Well, at least I'm not pretending like I do," Ruby shot back, "We need to figure out where we're going before we get even more lost!"

"And how do you suggest that?"

"The Headmaster said the temple is in the north, right? We just need to figure out which way is north!"

"Easier said than done," Weiss scoffed, "I don't suppose that weapon of yours has a built in compass, does it?"

"Well, no," Ruby admitted, "But that's actually a good idea! I should think about doing that after we finish initiation…"

"Focus, Ruby," Weiss interjected, "We need to finish initiation before we think about what we're going to do after."

"Right, right," Ruby conceded, "Well, there must be some way to figure out which direction to go. What do they say about moss? It always grows to the north, right?"

"That's a myth. Moss grows in shady areas, regardless of direction."

"Well… What about the sun? It always rises in the east and sets in the west. Can we figure it out from that?"

"Maybe in the morning. It's almost noon now."

"Ugh…" Ruby slouched over, trying to think of another way to figure out which way was north.

"We could follow the sound of the other initiates…" Weiss commented, turning to the sudden sound of gunshots.

"Yeah, that'll work…" Ruby sighed. "Well, we don't want to miss out, right? Let's go!"

The two girls walked on in silence for several minutes, alternately leading and trailing as they followed worn paths in the general direction of gunfire. Suddenly, Ruby noticed an unnatural shadow had engulfed the two of them, a feeling of dread settling over her.

" _Ruby, MOVE!"_ Rose practically screamed in her head.

Moving as fast as she could, Ruby charged into Weiss, flinging both Huntresses-in-training to the ground mere seconds before a Giant Nevermore plowed into the ground they had recently occupied. With a screech, the massive avian flapped back into the air, apparently ignoring the two girls in favor of a larger target ahead.

"Follow that bird!" Weiss shrieked, sprinting after the Grimm. "It's obviously headed towards the temple!"

Ruby simply ran after her, easily keeping pace thanks to her semblance.

* * *

"Great! The gang's all here," Yang quipped, "Now we can die together!"

"Not if I can help it!" Ruby replied, charging at the Deathstalker Jaune and Pyrrha had lead to them with a cry and ignoring both Rose and Yang's warnings.

" _Ruby, look out!"_ Rose warned as the Scorpion Grimm's claw rose to meet her, swatting her away with a _thunk._ Standing up, Ruby gave the others a thumbs up for a moment, before Rose's warnings shocked her back into action. _"Move! Get back!"_

Not wasting another moment, Ruby sprinted away from the Deathstalker, firing off round after round at the Grimm to propel herself faster and slow the creature down, completely forgetting about the Nevermore as it launched a volley of feathers. The only alert she had was a quick _"WATCH OUT!"_ from Rose before Ruby felt something pin her cloak, clotheslining her and sending her feet flying out from under her.

Getting to her feet, Ruby felt Rose already pouring over her limbs, granting her even greater strength. She pulled as hard as she could on the part of the cloak impaled by the feather, rewarded with only a small ripping sound as the Deathstalker prepared to spear her.

 _So this is it,_ She thought distantly, barely registering Yang's cries as the Grimm readied its massive stinger. _This is really it. Killed by a Deathstalker because I rushed in too fast._

At that moment, the cloak finally gave way, sending Ruby stumbling back as she was finally freed of the feather, but it was too late. The stinger was already on a beeline for her, and even she wasn't fast enough to dodge it. Closing her eyes and covering her face, Ruby waited for the end.

Only to be greeted by the crackling of ice.

Opening her eyes, Ruby saw the Deathstalker's stinger hovering inches in front of her.

"Honestly..." Weiss chided, sheathing her sword. "I expected more from you, Ruby Rose. I thought you knew how to use your brain, and then you went off and charged a Deathstalker alone. A _Deathstalker!_ I'm still not sure whether you're really _that_ confident or just a dunce, but we are a team." Weiss offered a hand, which Ruby gladly took. "And if we're going to be a team, then we need to work together, alright?"

"Y-yeah," Ruby stammered, "Thanks, Weiss."

"Hmph. Think nothing of it."

Returning to the rest of the group, Ruby was treated to a massive bear hug from Yang and relieved looks from everyone else.

"Guys? That thing's circling back! What are we gonna do?" Jaune finally said.

"There's no sense in dilly-dallying," Weiss replied, pointing at the remaining relics, "Our objective is right in front of us."

"She's right," Ruby agreed, "Our mission is to grab an artifact and make it back to the Cliffs, not waste time fighting these Grimm."

"Run and live," Jaune finished, "That's an idea I can get behind!"

Grabbing their relics, the group of eight made their way back, away from the two Grimm relentlessly pursuing them.

The monsters finally caught up with them as they entered another ruin, the Nevermore perching atop a tower at one end, while the Deathstalker chased them from the other.

As they broke from cover, the Nevermore acted, screeching as Nora peppered it with explosions and the other students made their way towards the central tower. Ruby used her semblance to take the lead of the group, already well across the bridge when the Avian Grimm smashed into it in a desperate attempt to take out the threats. Retracting Crescent Rose into a gun, Ruby did her best to scare the oversized bird off by taking potshots at it as the others regained their bearings.

Magazine running empty, Ruby saw Yang's partner running along the Nevermore's spine, slashing back and forth as she went. Finishing her reload, Ruby continued to pour rounds into the oversized bird, the other three girls with her each pitching in with their own weapons. Shrugging them off, the Nevermore slammed into the tower the girls stood on, sending them into free fall under a pile of rubble. Rose assisted Ruby where she could, pointing out solid boulders for Ruby to jump off of.

" _Boulder at your ten o'clock. Now jump to that part at your nine o'clock. Walkway at your six, jump to solid ground from there."_

"None of this is working…" Ruby heard Weiss mutter. As she watched Yang and her partner ward of the Nevermore, an idea came to her.

"I have a plan, cover me!" She ordered.

Using her semblance, Ruby quickly relayed each girl their roles, getting a trio of affirmatives as they set up for her master plan.

" _I think I see your plan, Ruby. I have to say, it looks as risky as it is bold."_

Ignoring Rose's musing, Ruby signaled Yang to grab the bird's attention, jumping into its mouth and unloading at its vulnerable insides. Jumping off, Yang switched out with Weiss, who charged the perched Nevermore, freezing it where it stood. Ruby felt Rose crawling along her legs, boosting her strength even as a yawning, empty feeling grew in her gut, like she hadn't eaten all day. As Ruby jumped into the makeshift slingshot they had formed, Weiss formed a glyph, stretching the ribbon to its limits, even as she chastised Ruby.

"Of course _you_ would think of this plan…"

"Think you can make the shot?"

"Hmph," Weiss scoffed, "Can I?"

Ruby didn't have time to question her as she was sent flying, hooking her scythe around the Bird's neck, her feet digging into the cliff. Calling on her semblance, Rose's assistance, and even Weiss' glyphs, Ruby sprinted up the cliff face as fast as she could, lynching the Nevermore as she dragged it behind her, ending with the Avian Grimm's body catching on an outcropping, allowing Ruby to completely decapitate it.

As she caught her breath, Ruby felt Rose retreat from her legs, leaving them feeling weak and tired.

" _I must admit. That was an impressive maneuver. I would never have considered such an idea myself."_

"Heh," Ruby panted, "Well, that's what I do. Pulling off crazy plans is just a normal tuesday for me…"

Taking in the view, Ruby couldn't help but smile. Maybe Rose would leave her one day. But she still saved Ruby's life in the first place. Until then, Ruby could trust her. Whether or not she truly cared, Ruby could rely on Rose to look out for her.

* * *

"...And finally: Blake Belladonna, Ruby Rose, Weiss Schnee, and Yang Xiao Long."

Ozpin motioned to the four girls. "The four of you retrieved the white knight pieces. From this day forward, you will work together as Team RWBY. Led by... Ruby Rose."

Ruby was dumbstruck for a moment. Her? As a team leader? Was the Headmaster sure about that?

" _I am unsure how… wise that decision is, but it would be stupid of us to not take advantage of it,"_ Rose commented, as Yang crushed Ruby in a hug. _"You did end up on the same team as your sister anyway, though, which could be a hassle as much as a boon. It will be much harder to hide my existence from her than it will from strangers."_

Giggling nervously at the sudden influx of attention on her, Ruby couldn't help but agree.

* * *

 **Poor Qrow... ;)**

 **Alright! Chapter Three is down, and I'm feeling pretty good about this one for the most part. Managed to cram the entire initiation into one chapter, kept a good level of banter between Ruby and Rose for the most part, and most importantly, finished the damn chapter. The last quarter or so of the chapter was pretty near summary of the actual episode with some Rose comments thrown in, but I had to make do with what I had. I'm pretty happy about the other three-quarters though, so whatever, yeah?**

 **I probably could have gotten this out a week ago, but I've been busy trying to salvage a few grades for the end of the grading period. And College Applications. And the busy season at work. I've got a lot of stuff on my plate right now, but I try to write when I can. It's this or video games to kill time, and I think I enjoy this a bit more.**

 **Aaand that's it. Peace.**


	4. First Impressions

"Monsters! Demons! Prowlers of the night! Yes, the creatures of Grimm have many names, but I merely refer to them as prey!"

Ruby sighed, doing her best to focus on Port's lecture. God, this guy was booor-ing. Ruby wished she had a way to talk to Rose without, you know, talking. At least then she could maybe learn something useful, instead of listening to the professor rambling on about whatever he was talking about now.

Actually… Maybe there was a way. Rose obviously had some way to see the world around her; she had warned Ruby about the Nevermore, after all. What if she could see other things too? Grabbing a pencil and a blank sheet of paper, Ruby started to write.

 **ROSE  
CAN YOU READ THIS?**

" _Hm?"_ Rose sounded sleepy, like she had just woken up. Honestly, Ruby couldn't blame her; Port's rambling could put anyone to sleep. Ruby tapped on the note she had just written, looking around to see if anyone was watching her. The room was oddly silent, save for one standing boy, who quickly sat down.  
"That is what you are training to become. But first, a story. A tale of a young, handsome man: Me! When I was a boy..."

Okay, he obviously wasn't going to be saying anything important any time soon.

" _Oh. I see,"_ Rose mumbled, vaguely amused, _"I must say, that is quite clever. Yes, Ruby, I can read your note."_

 **AWESOME**

Now Ruby had a way to talk with Rose without actually talking. Progress!

 **CAN I ASK YOU SOMETHING?**

" _Of course. I have nothing better to do, besides listen to this buffoon."_

 **COOL**

Now that she actually had a chance, though, what did Ruby actually want to know?

 **WHERE DID YOU COME FROM?**

" _Where?"_ Rose was silent for a moment. _"To be truthful, I am not entirely sure. I do not remember much of anything beyond a few weeks before we met. I do recall crossing an ocean, though."_

Really? That was… Vague. There were a lot of places that were across the ocean: Atlas, Mistral, Menagerie, even Patch.

Okay, Rose probably wasn't from Patch, but wouldn't that be crazy?

 **WHAT DO YOU MEAN YOU DONT REMEMBER?**

" _Much of my memory is… Cloudy."_ Rose sounded uncomfortable. _"I know I… existed, I suppose, but I do not recall much detail. The first clear memory I have is of a boat. I believe it was only a week or two before we met."_

 **YOU DONT REMEMBER ANYTHING BEFORE THAT?**

" _Nothing concrete. The only definite memory I have of that time is… Hunger._

 **HUNGER?**

" _Yes. I can most definitely recall feeling a sort of hunger. It was more… Feral, though, as if there was nothing more important than feeding as much as I could."_

 **WHY DID IT STOP?**

" _If I were to guess, I would say I no longer felt as hungry."_

That was a scary thought. Ruby remembered what Rose had said about her "eating habits".

 **HAVE YOU EVER KILLED SOMEONE?**

Ruby had to know; The way Rose had casually shredded that bird, would she do the same to a person?

" _...Not as such, no."_ Rose finally replied, speaking diplomatically. _"I have never directly ended another person's life, to my knowledge. However, when I was… younger, more desperate, there were times when I was driven to gorge myself on a person's entire soul."_

Ruby shuddered at the implication.

She had read a magazine article about cases of Huntsmen and Huntresses with "Aura Damage". They had all suffered some sort of permanent trauma to their souls, usually through some kind of twisted semblance or, sometimes, as a result of torture from a particularly nasty group of bandits. One thing the stories all had in common was that the people affected always ended up… different. _Off._ Some developed personality quirks, like obsessive behavior. Others just went nuts. Apparently, it wasn't until recently that the link between aura and mental state was even made. Before, it was just written off as shell shock, PTSD and the like, until someone noticed the same effects in civilians with mental disorders. That whole article had left Ruby with nightmares. The idea that someone could damage your aura like that, and that it could change who you were?

Ruby knew that living things didn't necessarily _need_ a soul, the Grimm were proof enough of that. But what would happen if someone lost their entire soul?

If _she_ lost her entire soul?

 **WHAT HAPPENED TO THEM?**

Ruby was almost afraid to find out. What fate awaited her if Rose decided to get rid of her?

" _While I did not linger after the event, they did not seem injured to me. I am sure you understand I have not kept track of them since."_

Yeah, it probably was too much to ask that Rose give her a detailed report of what grizzly fate potentially awaited her. It was probably better she didn't know, either. Ignorance is bliss and all that.

Ruby was silent for a minute, considering what she had learned. It was only when Port himself called out to her that she snapped out of her trance.

"Miss Rose! I applaud you for your diligent note-taking! Perhaps you would like to demonstrate what you've learned today?"

Ruby fumbled her pencil, looking around nervously. Weiss nodded approvingly, Blake and Yang each giving her a thumbs up.

"Uh… O-okay, professor." She stammered.

"Capital!" The portly teacher crowed. "Once you retrieve your weapon, we will see just how much you have learned!"

* * *

"So Rose, were you paying attention to what he was saying? Because I sure wasn't."

" _I believe he made several mentions of Boarbatusks in between his ramblings."_

"Alright, I can handle that," Ruby sighed, "They've got weak undersides, right?"

" _Yes. Assuming you are fighting a Boarbatusk, I would suggest using your own speed to bait it."_

"Yeah, okay. I think I know what to do."

" _I wish you best of luck then."_

Pushing the door to Port's classroom open, Ruby found the man already in the middle of yet another story.

"Excellent!" He bellowed. "Well then, students, I suppose that story will have to wait for another time. For now, Miss Rose, step forward and face your opponent!"

Stepping to the side, Port gestured to a metal cage, filled with some kind Grimm, growling at the people surrounding it. Ruby unfurled her scythe to the cheers of her teammates, and Weiss' hushing, ordering them to 'not distract her'.

Well, Ruby appreciated the thought. A couple people cheering wouldn't affect her in a fight against a single Grimm. Giving WBY a wave, Ruby dropped into a fighting stance, prepared for whatever test Port had given her. With a swing of the Blunder-Axe thing that he called his weapon, Port freed the creature, revealing it was indeed a Boarbatusk. It wasn't even a particularly old one. A little stronger than an Ursa in power, with about a tenth of the intelligence.

The creature pawed at the ground with a snort, its baleful gaze focused solely on Ruby.

Finally, the Boarbatusk broke the standoff, squealing as it curled into a spinning ball of death.

With the help of her semblance, Ruby easily dodged the Grimm's charge, eliciting a chortle from Port.

"Oh-ho! Utilizing your semblance to negate the Boarbatusk's natural advantages? An excellent strategy, Miss Rose!"

In the meantime, Ruby scanned the room for anything that might be strong enough to handle a collision with the Grimm.

" _You could just lead it into Port,"_ Rose suggested, _"That fat idiot is so dense that I doubt he would even notice the difference."_

Ruby giggled at that, but it was almost a viable strategy. If she baited the creature into Port, then he probably wouldn't be very amused. Or maybe he would; assuming his stories were true, he could handle a single Boarbatusk without batting an eye. That said, the bust that he kept of himself looked pretty heavy, too. If she could knock that off the pedestal when the Boarbatusk ran into it, then it might buy her enough time to take it out.

With a burst of speed, Ruby positioned herself right in front of the bust, staring the Boarbatusk down, daring it to charge her again. The creature acceded and, with a squeal of rage, charged at her in a frothing rage, only for Ruby to dodge it once more, leaving it to plow into the pedestal.

The bust rocked once, twice, three times before finally tipping over the edge, falling square onto the Grimm's head with an audible _thunk_.

Roaring in pain, the Boarbatusk staggered around the floor before finally falling to one side, stunned. Seizing the advantage, Ruby sprinted forward, spinning her scythe around underhanded to drive the tip into its exposed underside. With a final roar of anguish, the Boarbatusk collapsed, swiftly dissolving into smoke to the applause of the class and her team's cheers. Port himself chuckled heartily, setting the bust back on its pedestal.

"An inspired tactic, Miss Rose," He chortled, "Simply inspired! Being able to think on the fly and make use of your surroundings is the mark of a true huntress! I have no doubts that if you maintain that level of aptitude, then you will not only succeed at Beacon, you will excell!"

Ruby just blushed, trying to play off the praise.

"Well, I don't know about that…" She muttered.

"Nevertheless," Port interrupted, "I'm afraid we are out of time for today. Remember to cover your assigned readings, and to stay vigilant! Class dismissed!"

Joining her team, Ruby was greeted by a round of compliments.

"I knew you could do it, sis! That trick with the statue was awesome!"

"I was sure Port was going to yell at you for damaging that bust, but it was impressive."

The three girls turned to Weiss, eager to hear her opinion of the fight.

"...I thought that your use of the environment was rather creative, even if it did result in… collateral damage." Weiss finally admitted. Ruby blew a raspberry at the half hearted compliment. "Furthermore, I was wondering if you would like to compare notes later. I'm surprised you managed to get anything of value out of that blowhard's stories."

"Well, there were some bits of useful information in the Professor's story," Ruby fibbed, "I probably didn't really get anything that you don't already know. Just weak points and strategy stuff, y'know?"

"Even still, It wouldn't do to miss some small piece of information that could prove vital later on," Weiss rebutted, "Perhaps you'd like to compare notes later today, maybe after dinner?"

"Sure!" Ruby agreed, immediately brightening up, "That sounds great." Maybe she could use the time to prove that she did deserve to be here at Beacon. She had heard Weiss' opinion of her earlier, after all.

"Then it's decided." Weiss nodded, walking off. "Now let's hurry to our next class. It would reflect poorly on our team to be late to two classes, isn't that right Ruby?"

"Yeah, Yang," Ruby teased, "You wouldn't want to… reflect poorly… on our classmates, would you?"

"I'm not sure that's how that works, Ruby."

"Oh hush you! Let's go!"

* * *

The rest of the day passed uneventfully. They had Dust Studies with Professor Peach, Combat class with Professor Goodwitch, and History with Professor Oobleck, among others. All throughout the classes, Ruby made sure to take as detailed notes as she could, with Rose occasionally pitching in whenever Ruby misheard or forgot a piece of information. For all the misgivings she had about the parasite-thing, Ruby had to admit that Rose was nothing if not helpful. She even seemed to have a near photographic memory. It almost made Ruby wonder if she needed to study, when she could just have Rose act as her own personal cheat sheet.

 _Nah, Rose'd probably get mad if I treated her like that._ Ruby finally decided. Maybe she could count on it in a pinch, but it was probably better to make sure she learned it herself.

' _Especially when Rose finally decides to leave you.'_ a little voice niggled in the back of head.

' _What? Why would she leave me?'_ Ruby thought, ' _She doesn't have any reason to leave, right?'_

' _Maybe not yet,'_ The voice shot back, ' _But what about in a month? A year? Do you really think she cares about you? You're just food to her.'_

' _She does care about me! She saved my life!' God_ , Ruby wanted to lock herself in a dark room for an hour.

' _You heard what she said. She's going to leave you the second it becomes inconvenient-'_

" _Ruby?"_ Rose's voice shook her out of her hysteria. _"Is something the matter? You are looking rather uncomfortable."_

Rose had been honest with her so far today. If she was telling the truth about her time before meeting Ruby, then she'd tell the truth about this, right? Turning over a page, Ruby began to scrawl.

 **ROSE. BACK ON PATCH YOU SAID YOU WOULD STAY AS LONG AS YOU NEEDED TO. DOES THAT MEAN YOULL LEAVE ME SOMEDAY?**

Rose was silent for a moment. Ruby couldn't tell if it was because she was thinking of an explanation, or trying to construct a lie. Was there even any difference? Ruby felt something in her gut, a pang of nervousness, similar but essentially different from what Ruby herself was feeling. Was that what Rose felt whenever Ruby got nervous?

" _So you caught that, hm?"_ Rose finally answered. Her tone wasn't scared or nervous, just sort of… resigned, really. _"I was wondering what was causing those little bolts of panic every once in a while. I just believed it was you being nervous."_ Rose sighed, _"Anyways, I believe it would be stupid to guarantee you that I will never leave you, but I have no plans to do so any time soon._

 **WHAT DOES THAT MEAN THOUGH?**

" _I suppose my own wording is to blame for your nervousness. What I mean is that I will not leave you, unless I deem it to be best for both of us."_

 **BOTH OF US?**

" _If your life is in danger because of my presence, then, and only then, will I leave. You have provided me more than I could ever expect of someone, Ruby, and I owe you a great debt as a result. I will always do my best to assist you, but if you tell me to, or if your life is in danger, then I will leave. That said, with you I have safety, and a reliable food source. I doubt most people would be as… gracious as you."_

 **THATS TRUE.**

Ruby had to admit, she had a point. If Rose hadn't saved her life when she had, then Ruby probably wouldn't have been as accepting of the creature's decision to live… well, inside her. Maybe she was just overanalyzing this. After all, why _would_ Rose leave?

 **THANKS ROSE.**

" _Of course. Feel free to ask me anything else, Ruby. We are in this together, you know."_

* * *

"I suppose there wasn't much taught today that we wouldn't already know." Weiss closed her notebook, placing it back in her pack. "Still, you did get moved up two years, so I expect you will run across new information sooner rather than later. If you need any help in the future, I would be happy to assist you."

Ruby grinned tiredly, putting her own notebook away.

"Thanks Weiss. I'll be sure to ask you if I need any help." Standing up, Ruby made for the library door. "I think I'm gonna do some maintenance on Crescent Rose before I go to bed. Tell Yang and Blake that I'll be back later tonight for me, alright?"

Ruby was halfway out the door before being interrupted by a "Ruby, wait!" from Weiss. Turning around, Ruby found Weiss rushing to catch up with her.

"Ruby, I'd like to tell you something." Taking a moment to compose herself, Weiss finally spoke. "When I first met you, I was convinced that you were some clumsy, airheaded little kid, maybe the daughter of a wealthy supporter of Beacon who managed to bribe her way in. But I certainly didn't think that you belonged here at Beacon, let alone leading my team." Ruby frowned at that. She wasn't _that_ bad, was she? "But today, I think you've proven that you do deserve to be here. You've shown an incredible drive to make up for your disadvantage, and to distinguish our team among the rest of the students, and I'd like to apologize."

"Apologize…?" Ruby was taken aback. She hadn't expected this of all things, especially with how Weiss had started this little conversation.

"Yes, I want to apologize for my rude behavior before. I was acting… presumptuous, and I judged you unfairly."

"Oh… It's- It's alright, Weiss, everyone makes mistakes, right? The important part is that you learn from them." Weiss smiled, nodding in agreement.

"I think you're right, Ruby. Thank you." With that, Weiss walked off, back towards the dorm as Ruby went in search of a secluded area.

' _Now I just need to find somewhere I can practice alone. I need to get more comfortable with using Rose if people really do start coming after her. I don't want her to leave. Not yet.'_

Ruby was so deep in thought that she didn't even notice Professor Ozpin approaching from the opposite direction, running into him with a surprised yelp.

"Oh- Uh, hi, Professor…" Ruby stammered.

"Good evening, Miss Rose," Ozpin greeted, "I was just looking for you actually. I wanted to know how you were fitting in here at Beacon, so far."

"Oh, well… I think I've been doing alright." Ruby kicked at the ground, looking down. "I mean, nothing bad's happened yet, and my team seems pretty nice."

"That is good to hear," Ozpin smiled, sipping his mug. "I will admit, I had concerns that you and Miss Schnee might end up butting heads, but it's good to hear that my fears were unfounded."

"Oh yeah, Weiss _did_ just finish apologizing to me for misjudging me…" Ruby admitted.

"Well, it is good to hear that you girls are capable of solving your problems yourselves. I have high expectations for you and your team, Ruby, but I'm more than confident that you will rise to the challenge." Ozpin took another sip, looking around. "By the way, if you don't mind me asking, where were you going? I believe your dorms are in the other direction."

"Oh, well, I-uh, I was looking for somewhere quiet where I could… practice," Ruby stammered, "Yeah, where I could practice some new moves I've been meaning to try. Dad and Yang are always saying how I'm practically useless in a fight without my Crescent Rose, so I thought I'd try to learn how to get better!"

Ozpin simply chuckled.

"Well, it's good to see you so focused on improving. Perhaps I shouldn't be telling you this, but I've found that the rooftops often make for a good spot when you need to be alone. The janitorial staff does tend to leave the doors unlocked, after all."

Ruby grinned, running off towards the nearest roof access.

"ThankyouprofessorI'llkeepitasecretbye!"

When she finally reached the roof, taking a moment to catch her breath and make sure she was alone, Ruby finally spoke, apparently to herself to any onlookers.

"Alright, Rose, let's try something new today…"

* * *

 **Hoo boy. That's another chapter down, a bunch more to go. Not much news wise; Life's still kicking my ass, still got a ton of responsibilities, and still having trouble forcing myself to sit down and write. That's how it is sometimes, I guess.**

 **As for other news, my thanks go out to _RandomName3064_ for volunteering to start beta-ing this story and help me go over the whole plan to work things out. I got eager and put this chapter out ASAP, but hopefully starting next chapter there should be an increase in quality.**

 **Beyond that... Only thing I really want to say is I feel like this chapter needs explaining in terms of interactions between characters, so if you were a little confused or put off by Weiss' actions, hopefully I can put those concerns to rest here. If you weren't, then I guess I'll see you in a couple weeks cuz I've got nothing else to say.**

 **So, anyway. Some people might be put off by how I completely glossed over the conflict between Ruby and Weiss from the show, and to those people, I would say that Rose is like Ruby's Ren.**

 **What I mean by that is that Ruby and Nora are both similar in personality in that they can be very excitable and hyperactive. The difference being that Nora has Ren to reign in and direct her energy, while Canon Ruby doesn't. This creates friction between Ruby and Weiss, and leads to the events of the show.**

 **However, Symbiosis Ruby has Rose, who acts in much the same role as Ren as a stabilizing and directing force for Ruby's energy; helping her focus, and stay on track. With this stabilizing force, Weiss no longer sees Ruby as her initial impression of "immature child", but has skipped directly to "Huntress in training who is trying her best, but is maybe out of her depth sometimes". As a result, there's no longer Weiss' tantrum over not being the leader. Maybe she's unhappy about it, sure, but she's keeping it to herself.**

 **Anyway, hope that cleared some things up. See ya.**

 **(Edit: I went back and changed a couple minor things, so if things seem different for some reason, that's why. Using "Oum" instead of "God" just felt cheesy.)**


	5. Altercation

The next few weeks passed uneventfully, for the most part. Ruby attended classes as usual, ate with her team, and spent much of her evenings studying with Weiss. Every night, they studied for a few hours, until one of them got too tired to study any longer. Then, Ruby would make one of dozen excuses, and head off to the seclusion of the roof.

Every night, she practiced using Rose's powers, including those suited just as much for combat as for more mundane uses.

"Alright, let's give it another try," Ruby muttered. "I think I've almost got the hang of it."

" _Very well."_

Ruby closed her eyes, focusing on the sensation of something sprouting from the back of her neck. She couldn't see the action itself, but the feeling alone sent shivers up her spine. It felt like flexing an unfamiliar muscle: Natural, but intrinsically foreign.

When she opened her eyes again, she was greeted by the sight of a three-sixty degree view of the area around her. Every time she did it, she felt a sense of nausea, her brain _knowing_ it was impossible, and her eyes seeing it anyway. It hurt her brain in the same way that those 'impossible shapes' did, but a million times worse.

Ruby took a moment to focus, trying to give her brain a chance to process all the new information. Once she got past the initial sensory overload, it was pretty cool being able to see in every direction. Now she just had to get used to _moving_ while looking in every direction. _God,_ was this what Jaune felt every time he rode a Bullhead?

Ruby felt kind of bad about calling him Vomit Boy now. She didn't envy anyone who had to deal with this on a regular basis.

" _Alright, Ruby, now try taking a few steps forward,"_ Rose suggested. Tentatively, Ruby took a step. Her brain still felt like it was being tied in a knot, but it was getting better. She was learning to deal with the conflicting-yet-still-comprehendible information from her senses. One step forward was also a step backwards, and a step to either side.

She took another step. Still standing, still not puking.

Another step.

Alright, she could do this. She could take one step, now she just had to string it together. Step and step, step and step. Hey, she could do this! Look at that, she was already walking from one edge of the roof to the other.

Well, stumbling more like, but who cared. Progress!

"Alright," She finally sighed, a half hour later, "I think that's enough for tonight."

" _You have advanced quite far since we began practicing,"_ Rose praised, _"You may have heard it from Port already, but I feel it is worth repeating that you have amazing potential."_

"Thanks," Ruby chuckled, "I've just been doing my best."

" _Well, I think your best is rather impressive, given the challenges you have faced. Even I have been inspired to 'think outside the box', as it were,"_ Rose admitted, _"In fact, I have one idea I have been meaning to show you."_

With that, Ruby felt the 'eyes', for lack of a better term, on her neck melt away, returning to the obsidian flesh that Rose was made of. This time, however, she didn't feel the sort of filling sensation that usually accompanied Rose's return. In fact, Ruby felt something unfamiliar around her neck. Bringing her hands to the object, it didn't feel _uncomfortable._ Just unfamiliar.

Ruby pulled out her scroll, turning on the camera to use as a makeshift mirror. As she finally saw Rose's _idea_ , she let out a small gasp.

Around her neck was a choker necklace, a simple, tight fitting black strap with Ruby's symbol, a bone white rose.

"Wow," Ruby murmured, "It's… beautiful. I wonder if you could make it red, though…"

" _Consider it done."_

A red splotch suddenly appeared on the rose, spreading across the entire symbol like a bloodstain, until it matched Ruby's cloak. Ruby whistled in appreciation.

"I guess I don't want to know how you did that, do I?"

" _Hemoglobin."_

"Hee-mo what now?"

" _Hemoglobin."_

"You mean like, blood?"

Rose sighed, exasperated.

" _Yes. I dyed it with your blood."_

"Whoa," Ruby gasped, "Crazy…"

" _Yes. Well, anyway,"_ Rose continued, _"I have found that reshaping existing mass is easier than generating more. This way, I will always have a base to start from, and also to form some more basic structures."_

"Is that why I always feel hungry whenever we practice?"

" _Most likely. I can do many things, Ruby, but even I must obey the laws of physics."_

"Yeah," Ruby sighed, "I guess that makes sense. Anyway, I guess we should get back to the dorm before Yang starts worrying."

Standing up, Ruby took one last look off the roof, down on the lights of Vale below, before heading back inside.

* * *

"Hey Ruby, is it just me or have your eating habits… changed?"

Ruby looked up from her breakfast, returning her sister's curious stare.

"Whaddya mean 'changed'?" Ruby mumbled through a mouthful of food. "I've been eating a well balanced meal. I got sausage, waffles... Sausage…" She trailed off. "I think I see what you mean." Now that she thought about it, she had been eating a _lot_ of protein lately. "I dunno." She shoved another forkful of sausage into her mouth. "I guesh I've just been craving saushage, lately."

To her credit, Yang barely blinked, though Blake and Weiss certainly perked up at Ruby's statement.

"What?" Ruby asked blithely, "Ish there shomething on my face?"

" _I believe the phrase is 'That's what she said'..."_

Ruby stopped trying to wipe the nonexistent food from her face, blinking. Then her eyes widened as she sucked in a breath, choking on her food as Yang broke down in laughter."

"I knew you had it in you, Rubes!" She guffawed, bent double from laughing. Weiss looked scandalized, and Blake simply buried her head back in her book, blushing furiously.

"Yang!" Ruby wheezed, coughing furiously, "It's not– It's not funny!"

"I beg to differ, dear sister," Yang gasped, "Oh wait till Dad hears about this! He's gonna lose it!"

"Yaaang," Ruby whined, "As your team leader, I order you to stop laughing."

"Alright, alright." Yang wiped a tear from her eye, "But seriously. Are you feeling alright?"

"I'm _fine,_ Yang. Like I said, I've just been hungry for, uh… Protein. Or something. I guess." Ruby trailed off.

"If you say so, Ruby." Yang took another bite of her pancakes. "Hey, maybe you finally hit your growth spurt! I was about your age when mine hit."

"Heh, maybe…" Ruby mumbled, poking at her breakfast.

Honestly, why _was_ she craving meat all of the sudden? Was it because of Rose? Maybe Yang was right, and it was just a growth spurt. Or maybe it was both, and Ruby's metabolism had been set so far into overdrive that it was a wonder she wasn't vibrating in place.

She didn't _feel_ any more energetic. Honestly, she felt _less_ energetic than usual, but that was probably more because of school and her own "training" than anything else. Maybe she should cut back on that a little, to make sure she was getting enough sleep.

Ruby shrugged, taking another bite of sausage. It wasn't that important.

* * *

"Ruby Rose, you will be facing…"

The screen above flicked between a dozen faces, Ruby watching eagerly to figure out who she got to fight today.

"...Russel Thrush. Both of you retrieve your weapons, and prepare for battle."

"Alright, Russel uses daggers," Ruby muttered as she made her way to the lockers, "So I've got the advantage of range."

" _But he has the advantage up close,"_ Rose reminded her, _"And you know what his fighting style is like."_

True. Russel was a sneaky kind of fighter, like Blake. Chances were, Ruby wouldn't be fighting him head on like she could with Yang or Nora. She'd have to play this one defensively: it would only take one good hit to decide the fight. Ruby's hand went to her neck.

"Think we should try that thing we've been practicing?"

" _Are you sure? We have not practiced much with it."_

"Well, there's only one way to improve, right? I'll never be able to use your abilities in combat if I don't try."

" _I suppose I cannot disagree with you there,"_ Rose sighed, _"I might have an idea to keep the sensory overload to a minimum, actually."_

"Yes! Thanks, Rose!" Ruby cheered quietly, pumping her fist. Bracing herself, Ruby felt the choker shifting, the fuzzy feeling in the back of her head resolving into… not _sight,_ per se, but more definite than a feeling. She could tell that there was a locker directly behind her, and how many were in that row, but not, say, what number locker it was, or what color it was; It was sort of like watching a really low quality black-and-white film.

Then again, she didn't need to know that stuff in a fight. She could tell when someone was sneaking up on her, and against a fighter like Russel, that was amazingly helpful.

Shutting her locker, Ruby slung Crescent Rose over her shoulder, as ready as she was going to be.

Stepping back into the classroom, Professor Goodwitch nodded as she made her way to the arena.

"Miss Rose. Take your position, and we can begin."

Unfolding Crescent Rose, Ruby crouched into a combat stance, ready to spring forward the second the fight started.

"The fight will follow the standard rules. The first fighter to reach fifteen percent aura will be declared the loser." Glynda paused for a moment, looking around the room. "Begin."

Immediately, both fighters sprang into action. Ruby jumped forward, hoping to end this quickly with a single swing, but Russel dodged to the side, rolling under the swing and bringing his daggers up too quick for Ruby to dodge. She hopped back, though not without taking a few hits, her aura down to ninety percent. Nothing dangerous, but not a good way to start the fight. Ruby mentally berated herself for falling for such a simple trick so easily. Now, though, she had the advantage.

The two fighters circled each other, weapons in a defensive stance,waiting for the other to make a move.

Finally, Russel broke the stalemate, rushing forward with a dagger on either side, ready to come together like a pincer. Ruby brought her scythe up, blocking the daggers as they crossed, but she struggled to keep it up. Russel had two years and a few dozen pounds on her, and it showed.

Finally, Ruby managed to push him off balance, leaving him staggered long enough to bring the head of her scythe up and slam it into his jaw. It didn't knock him out completely, but he came out of the exchange stumbling and clutching his head, his aura dropped to eighty-five percent from the single strike alone.

WBY cheered at the exchange, but Russel wasn't out of the fight yet. Sneering, he spun the chambers on his daggers, coating one of them in blue ice, and the other in red flames, stabbing them into the ground. Ruby recognized the technique, she had seen Weiss using it in her own fights. He was making a smokescreen out of steam, probably planning to take her down with a sneak attack.

Ruby retreated to the center of the arena, scanning the area around her for silhouettes, shadows, anything that might give away her opponent's position.

"Rose…" She felt that fuzzy feeling in the back of her head, and the area behind her resolved into clarity. Scanning the area around her, Ruby focused on the smallest details she could. Even the smallest detail could help her here…

There!

Ruby saw a shadow forming at her seven-o'clock, almost definitely Russel coming in for the kill.

She heard her team shouting in surprise, trying to warn her, but Ruby was already acting, ducking beneath Russel's jump and moving to the side even as she brought her scythe up and over, hooking him around the waist and sending the boy slamming to the ground with a grunt and the crunch of shattering concrete. Not wasting a second, Ruby used one foot to pin him to the ground, pulling Crescent Rose out of the floor, and swung it high, ready to bring it down on the boy the second he made the wrong move-

"I give! I give!"

Russel thrashed around wildly, trying to squirm out from under Ruby's foot. Tentatively, Ruby raised her leg, allowing him to scramble to his feet.

"Victory, Ruby Rose." Glynda's voice echoed over the speakers, the woman herself clearing the air to the cheers of Ruby's team. "Mister Thrush, you made a good effort with that smokescreen. However, in the future I would suggest not copying the moves of your opponent's teammate: They are likely familiar with countering such strategies. On the other hand, Miss Rose; excellent work. Despite your shaky initial exchange, you maintained excellent awareness of your surroundings, allowing you to counter Mister Thrush's sneak attack."

Ruby blushed, smiling at both Professor Goodwitch's compliments, and the accompanying applause from the rest of the class. She almost felt bad for crushing Russel so soundly, even if his aura was still above thirty percent. Then she remembered his team was a bunch of jerks, and she didn't feel so bad about it.

"Alright, Ruby! Great job!" Yang crowed, patting her sister on the back. "You really showed that guy!"

"Well, I was just fighting like usual," Ruby muttered, "I didn't think it was _that_ impressive…"

"Impressive? Ruby, you practically saw through that smoke completely!" Yang raved.

"Even I would've had some trouble tracking him," Blake agreed, smirking, "How did you catch him, anyway? Maybe I could learn a thing or two from you."

"Eh-heh, I just got lucky, I guess," Ruby chuckled halfheartedly, "I'm not sure how to teach that…"

"Well, regardless," Blake opened her book, sitting back in her chair, "You did well, Ruby. Good job."

Ruby smiled, laying her head on her desk. Sheesh, that fight really wore her out…

"Hey Ruby, awesome fight," Jaune whispered, "How'd you beat Russel? I know your semblance is super speed, did you use that to catch him?"

"Nah… Just got lucky…" Ruby muttered, covering her head with her hood. She could _really_ go for a nap right now.

"Oh… Uh, me and the rest of JNPR were wondering if your team wanted to hang out tonight… maybe do some team training?"

"Yeah…" Ruby yawned, cradling her head in her arms, "Sounds good Jaune. See you tonight."

And with that, Ruby fell asleep.

* * *

"Alright Ruby, why don't you show us what you got?" Yang announced, slapping her sister on the back. "You beat Russel easy enough, but let's see how you do against Pyrrha."

"Yang…" Ruby whined, "C'mon, I'm tired, I don't wanna."

"Oh, don't be so dramatic." Yang wrapped her arms around Ruby, plucking her out of her chair and carrying her to the doors. "A good fight'll wake you up for sure."

"Yang! Ngh-! Put me down!" Ruby flailed her arms, trying to wriggle out of her sister's grip, falling to the floor with a _thunk_.

"Alright, fine. But you better be out here in five minutes, or I'm coming back in."

With that, Yang returned to the practice arena, leaving Ruby alone in the locker room.

"Ugh," Ruby sighed, brushing off her skirt, "Well, Rose, looks like we've got another fight. Any ideas?"

" _Good luck. I cannot help you this time."_

"What!? Why?" Ruby would've shrieked if it wasn't a surefire way to bring Yang back.

" _We have already attracted too much attention, Ruby. If I helped you, the girl who was moved forward two years, defeat the best fighter in your year, then that might make some people suspicious."_

"Rooose…" Ruby moaned, "Pleeease, I don't want Pyrrha to kick my butt."

" _Then I suggest you ask your *other* ability-enhancing symbiote to assist you. I, for one, will not be discovered because you could not be bothered to fight on your own."_

Ruby blew a raspberry, but she supposed Rose had a point. It would be weird if she managed to beat Pyrrha so easily, and that might raise a few eyebrows, if nothing else, once word got out.

"Fine."

Grabbing her scythe, Ruby trudged back out to the arena, ready to get her butt handed to her by Pyrrha. She could take her defeat with some dignity at the very least, right?

Ruby tried to hide the shaking in her hands as Pyrrha readied her weapons.

"Alright. Three! Two! One! Fight!"

As Pyrrha sprang forward, sword and javelin ready to strike, all Ruby could think was, "This is gonna hurt…"

* * *

"Ow… Ow… Ow…" Ruby moaned, limping back towards her dorm.

"Oh, hush," Yang chided, "You've taken worse from me all the time when we train. You're fine."

"Well maybe," Ruby grunted, "Maybe I'd be more fine if my dear sister hadn't thrown me to the wolves like that!"

So what if she was playing up the injury. A lot. Yang deserved to feel guilty.

"Pyrrha did tear you up pretty bad out there," Yang admitted, "What happened to all that sweet kung-fu stuff you did in Goodwitch's class today?"

"I told you guys, I just got lucky," Ruby defended, "Also, Russel's not _that_ great of a fighter anyway. Pyrrha could probably beat his whole team without breaking a sweat."

"True. You were doing pretty good at the start, though."

That might be giving her a bit more credit than she deserved. She had managed to block or dodge most of Pyrrha's opening blitz, and landed one good hit on her. The fight still ended with Pyrrha at ninety percent, and Ruby at ten. Not that impressive, honestly.

"Bleh," Ruby finally said, flopping on to her bed. "I don't feel like studying tonight… Too tired…"

All Ruby wanted to do was snuggle deeper into her bed and sleep until tomorrow afternoon.

"G'night, 'Sleeping Beauty'." Yang laughed. Ruby didn't care. She was already fast asleep.

* * *

 **And yet another chapter down. Happy Thanksgiving to those of you in America. Got hit by a bit of inspiration over the break, and decided to crank out this chapter. Not sure how good it is compared to the others, but it's got some plot relevant info, in case you didn't figure that out. That whole last section with the fight with Pyrrha was just kind of tacked on as an afterthought to pad for word count, and it shows, but I think I did alright. I'm especially proud of how it was completely original, and not based on any specific episode of the show. Feels good man.**

 **(Also, I don't want to sound entitled or anything but _please_ send me those reviews guys. Only got like, two last chapter, and that stuff's ****like crack cocaine for me. Literally anything at all, good or bad helps.)**

 _ **Please help feed my addiction. It fuels my creativity. And this story.**_


	6. Controversy

"Alright Rose, let's warm up with something simple…"

Ruby felt Rose oozing along her arm. In the past weeks she and the Symbiote had really bonded, at least in her opinion. Sometimes, it felt like they were totally in sync. Whenever Ruby was about to ask for Rose to form her claws, there they were. Honestly, it had really just gotten kind of mundane at this point. Obviously, changing shape was second nature to Rose, but Ruby wasn't far behind. Or at least, not as much as she might have expected.

"Sooo…" Ruby trailed off. Usually she liked to talk with Rose while they trained, and between her 'emotion sense' and Rose's own surprising ability to read people, there wasn't much Ruby could hide from her. Not that she wanted to, of course. It was nice to have someone she knew she could trust simply because they physically couldn't tell anyone her secrets even if they wanted to. Of course, there really was only one thing for them to talk about.

"What do you think of Jaune now?"

Of course, Jaune's fight with the Ursa that day had been on everybody's mind. Ruby imagined that it had given Rose a thing or two to think about herself.

" _I suppose he is not completely incompetent, if that is what you are trying to get me to admit,"_ Rose finally sighed. _"I still maintain that he would not have made an effective teammate."_

Or maybe not.

"Geez, Rose, what's your deal with Jaune anyway?"

" _I simply do not think he is as simple as he appears."_ Rose rebuked, a shiver of annoyance traveling up Ruby's spine. _"Perhaps I am 'overthinking it', but I feel it is justified, seeing as how we both know there are people in this school who would kill me on sight. Some of them might even kill you too, just to be sure."_

"Yeah, you don't have to remind me," Ruby groaned, "I just wish you could, y'know, relax a bit. I don't think things are nearly as bad as you think they are."

Rose was silent for a while. Ruby was about to ask if she was alright when she finally replied.

" _I sincerely hope you are correct, Ruby. I would love nothing more than to- Wait."_

A bolt of fear shot through Ruby's stomach, turning back to the door.

" _Someone is coming!"_

"...I think this should be a good spot to practice, Jaune. It's more secluded that the roof of the dorms- Ruby?"

Pyrrha and Jaune stood, surprised, as the Red Reaper flailed about, trying to cover as much of her body with her cloak as possible while not making it obvious she was hiding something. The end result was something out of an old monster movie, Ruby holding her cloak across her face to hide her very unusual looking arms as Rose receded back inside her body. The three students stood quiet for a minute, staring at each other in shock.

"Uh… Hey, Pyrrha… Jaune."

"Hello, Ruby," Pyrrha greeted evenly, "What are you doing up here?"

"Oh… y'know…" Ruby drawled, "Stuff. What are _you_ doing here?"

"Jaune and I were hoping to use this roof to train, seeing as how the sparring rings in the gym are closed at this time of night," Pyrrha answered, "But if you've claimed it already…"

"Oh, no no no! We can both use it! I was just practicing myself, actually." Ruby giggled nervously. "Maybe we could practice together. Y'know, help point out each other's weaknesses..."

"Well, that's wonderful to hear, Ruby," Pyrrha smiled, "We were just coming up here because Jaune asked me to help him with his swordsmanship."

"Ah, right." Ruby nodded. That made sense. Jaune was probably at the bottom of the class in terms of… just about everything, really, but at least he tried.

"Anyway," Pyrrha continued, "If you're willing, perhaps you could help me with Jaune's training a little. If I am the only person he spars against, then he may have trouble adapting to fight other people's styles."

"Yeah, alright," Ruby began shuffling towards the door, "Just let me go grab Crescent Rose, then we can train!"

She had one foot through the door when Pyrrha called out again, more confused this time.

"Wait, what were you doing up here then, Ruby? Wouldn't your weapon be up here already if you were practicing?"

Ruby spun around, gulping.

"Well… You see… There is a very good reason for that," Ruby stuttered, her eyes flitting back and forth, "And that reason… Is that I didn't need it! Because I was practicing fighting without it!"

Pyrrha cocked her head, one eyebrow raised.

"I-I can fight with Crescent Rose pretty well, but I'm not so good without her," Ruby clarified, "So I've been practicing fighting unarmed, just in case."

Pyrrha's mouth slowly formed an 'O', the champion nodding her head with a smile.

"I think it's good that you're trying to improve on your weaknesses. If you'd ever like any assistance, I would be glad to help."

"Thanks Pyrrha! I'll be sure to remember that!" Ruby blurted, nearly running through the door and down the stairs, all the way to her locker. Sighing, the reaper bumped her head on the locker door, muttering to herself.

"Stupid, stupid, stupid…"

She had nearly blown her cover right there. What would Pyrrha and Jaune do if they found out? She doubted she could just convince them then and there to not say anything. What if they attacked her?

...Well, she could probably take Jaune pretty easy. Pyrrha could take her down, no doubt, though.

 _God._ Ruby could feel her heart pounding. Her thoughts felt muddled, too. Why was she so scared of them anyway? Pyrrha might be able to beat her one-on-one, but she wasn't alone. Rose was there too. In fact, Ruby could probably give a veteran huntress like Goodwitch a run for her money, worst case scenario. If she really needed to, Ruby _was confident she could_ _ **destroy any fool who dared to challenge her, and peel their flesh-**_

" _Ruby!"_ Rose's voice cut through her thoughts, snapping the girl out of her daydream. _"Are you alright? You were acting strange."_

' _Whoah… Where'd that come from...'_ Ruby shook her head, clearing her thoughts.

"Yeah, I'm fine... Just spaced out."

Did she just hallucinate that voice or something? She _was_ tired… probably just needed some sleep. Pulling out her scroll, she dialed Pyrrha.

"Hey Pyrrha," She mumbled, yawning, "I'm more tired than I thought… Yeah… I'm just gonna go to bed… Alright, I'll see you tomorrow then…"

Ruby closed her scroll, trudging back to her dorm. She snuck in as quietly as she could, her team already asleep in their beds. She was kind of gross and sweaty, but Ruby didn't care at this point. Showers tomorrow, sleep now. She had just enough energy to change clothes, climb up into her bed and flop into the pillow face down before falling into a dreamless sleep.

* * *

"Ugh, smells like fish," Ruby groaned, shuffling along behind the rest of Team RWBY, "Why are we here so early…"

"It's ten o'clock, Ruby," Yang grinned, falling back to hurry her sister up, "You just need to start going to bed earlier."

"Blegh." Ruby tuck her tongue out, continuing to plod along.

"Alright sis," Ruby felt arms wrapping around her stomach, holding her tight, "We aren't leaving you behind!"

With a heave, Yang lifted Ruby off the ground, stumbling backwards a few steps. "Geez Ruby, what are you planning to hibernate for the winter? Feels like you've packed on fifteen pounds."

"Yang! Are you calling me fat?" Ruby nearly shrieked, flailing around as the blonde stumbled backwards, finally falling on her back with a groan.

"...Ruby… Get off… Crushing me…" She groaned.

"Maybe I oughta just sit here," Ruby pouted, sitting on her sister's stomach, "Didn't dad ever teach you not to talk about a woman's weight?"

"That's… Only for guys… I'm your sister," Yang shot back, shoving at Ruby's back, "Now get off… I need to breath."

Sighing, Ruby stood up, leaving Yang to help herself stand up as she brushed herself off. Shooting Yang a halfhearted glare, Ruby jogged to catch up with the other half of their team, now stopped in front of a roped off storefront, a pair of detectives investigating the damage.

"...I simply don't care for the criminally insane." She heard Weiss finishing.

"The White Fang is hardly a bunch of psychopaths," Blake shot back, looking unenthused, "They're just a bunch of misguided Faunus-"

"Hey… What're you guys talking about?" Yang interrupted, throwing her arms around the two girls' shoulders.

"I was simply telling Blake here that I have no love for the degenerate criminals of the White Fang."

Blake huffed angrily, crossing her arms.

"It's not like you know it was the White Fang."

"Who else would it have been then?"

Weiss put her hands on her hips, giving Blake a pointed look.

" _Roman Torchwick never was captured, was he?"_

"Hey, yeah," Ruby muttered, "What about Torchwick? He was involved in that other robbery a few weeks back, too, wasn't he?"

Ruby saw Yang's smile drop, and Blake and Weiss seemed to flinch as her grip on their shoulders tightened.

"Are you… Alright, Yang?" Weiss finally asked. Yang seemed to sag a little, sighing.

"Yeah… Just thinking about what I'm gonna do next time I see that Torchwick guy…"

Weiss looked like she was going to pry deeper, but she was interrupted by a monkey-tailed blond sprinting by, followed by the shouts of the dockworkers behind him.

"Quick! Follow that Faunus!" Weiss shouted, giving chase as he fled. Following behind her, the other girls set off at a brisk jog.

Ruby quickly took the lead; even without her semblance, she was just plain faster than the others, and she quickly took the lead. Even so, the boy clearly had experience navigating crowds, and Ruby lost him in the crowded sidewalk. She was so focused on locating him, it was only thanks to Rose that she didn't completely send one redheaded girl flying as they collided, the girl falling back, and Ruby landing on top of her.

"Sal-u-tations!" The girl finally exclaimed, laying stiffly beneath Ruby, who quickly jumped back with and 'eep!'

She felt a twisting in her gut, like she had just remembered a big assignment she had forgotten about. Something about the girl sprawled out on the ground seemed… odd. Not bad, necessarily, but strange enough for Ruby to feel disconcerted nonetheless.

"Uh… Hello... You wanna get up..?"

The girl just smiled, sitting up.

"Yes! My name is Penny! It is a pleasure to meet you!"

As the rest of her team jogged up behind her, Ruby felt another jolt of anxiety pass through her gut. Something about this girl was not right.

" _That girl,"_ Rose whispered, _"She has no pulse. Her body temperature is... strange as well."_

What did that mean? How could someone not have a pulse? Was she sick? Was she a ghost!?

"Hello?" The girl had leaned in close, giving Ruby a concerned look. "Oh dear… I hope she was not injured in our collision…"

Ruby heard Yang chuckle lightly, giving her a light slap up the backside of her head, jolting her into action.

"Huh? Oh! Uh, it's… nice to meet you, Penny. My name's Ruby. Ruby Rose!"

Instantly, Penny cheered up, a childish smile crossing her face.

"It is a pleasure to meet you, Ruby Rose!"

The rest of the team introduced themselves awkwardly, Weiss obviously raring to keep following that Faunus. After an awkward silence following introductions, Weiss practically dragging Ruby behind her, they excused themselves.

"Uh… Sorry for running into you!"

The girl just waved happily, still standing where Ruby had run into her as the team shuffled off, Weiss grumbling all the while about having lost the trail of that "Degenerate Faunus".

* * *

"You realize you are defending an organization that hates Humanity, don't you? The Faunus of the White Fang are pure evil!"

Ruby sent Yang a look, rolling her eyes as the Weiss and Blake continued to bicker. Yang just shrugged, grumbling. The two of them had been at it all day, and they weren't showing any signs of stopping soon. Even so, Ruby couldn't just leave them to it, no matter how much she wanted to just chat with Rose.

Speaking of, the symbiote had been quiet all day, ever since they had met Penny. The girl seemed nice enough, but Ruby couldn't shake the sense of dread and anxiety building in her stomach. Rose had claimed she had no pulse, but what did that mean? Ruby hadn't exactly been feeling her up, maybe it was just an unlucky coincidence. Maybe Penny just had a prosthetic limb, and that was what Rose had sensed. Ruby blew out a breath. _Yeah right. And maybe Crescent Rose could grow wings and start talking._

"You want to know why I despise the White Fang?"

With a sigh, Ruby flopped back on her bed, covering her head with a pillow. Would the two of them just _shut up?_ _If they couldn't come to some sort of agreement soon,_ _ **then she was going to force them to-**_

"It's because they're a bunch of liars, thieves, and murderers!"

 _Ugh._ Enough of that. Violence wasn't going to help this situation at all. Deep in her gut, Ruby felt a small sense of satisfaction that her teammates seemed to be annoying each other as much as they annoyed her and Yang, but she quickly quashed it down.

 _"Well maybe_ _ **we**_ _were just tired of being pushed around!"_

Wait.

 _ **What?**_

Ruby shot up, looking at Blake. The girl had an expression of pure fear, stuttering at the three heads that now watched her.

"I... I..."

And with that, she was gone; leaving the team with a flood of questions, and Ruby with an ever expanding pit of dread in her stomach.

* * *

 **FUCK FUCK I SWEAR I HAVE AN EXPLANATION FUCK**

 **Alright, now that the initial pitchforks and torches have been held off, let's get into the real details.**

 **Firstly: Why the hell did this take so long, especially after what I said about reviews?**

 **The answer? School and Work. I know it's cliche, but that's how it is sometimes. My grades were starting to slip, so I had to dedicate my free time to damage control where I could, and by the time break rolled around, Christmas season was in full swing. At work, that means someone or other is throwing their company Christmas party at the country club I work at every other day of the week. I've been working a lot over the break, and spending most of my free time enjoying the holiday. (Read: Playing Shadow of War. It's a damn good game)**

 **Anyway, between that and a general lack of motivation, I barely did any writing for about a month or two, resulting in this mini hiatus. I'll be back for a while now (Knock on wood), so hopefully we'll get semi regular updates again soon.**

 **Now, on a related note, let's talk RWBY:**

 **I'm going to be frank, I don't really enjoy the show anymore. The first few seasons had so much potential, and seeing it squandered like it has is frankly painful. I've barely kept up with the show through season five, and I've just realized that the RWBY of today simply isn't the show I fell in love with.**

 **What does that mean for this fic? Not much, actually. I still intend to finish this (Knock on wood again), but I'll probably end up diverging from canon more and earlier than I originally planned.**

 **After this fic, though? I think I'm pretty done with RWBY. It's time I moved on to greener pastures, and found some new fandoms to write fic for. I've recently discovered Worm via fanfiction proxy, and I gotta say I'm pretty enthralled. Whether that means fic remains to be seen, but who knows?**

 **I do enjoy writing, so hopefully this is just another step in maturing as an author. Maybe I'll start writing a completely original piece of fiction. I can't say the idea isn't exciting, but that's not for a while, regardless.**

 **That said, I hope you'll all stick around, and keep reading the stuff I churn out. (Keep those reviews coming too. I maintain my previous claim about them.)**


	7. Controversy Part 2

" _She cannot be trusted. If she kept this secret for so long, what else could she be hiding?"_

Ruby kept a brisk pace, the team having split up to find Blake and hopefully get some answers out of her. Emotions warred in the back of her mind, rage and sadness vying for dominance. Ruby had been hurt by the revelation of Blake's allegiances, but that hurt had quickly given way to anger, and now she was having trouble figuring out where her own emotions began and Rose's ended. The parasite herself wasn't making things any better.

" _Clearly, spies lurk among us. There is no one we can trust. You must treat everyone with suspicion, or else we risk discovery. I do not need to tell you what could happen then."_

Ruby could feel Rose radiating anger. Anger at Blake, and at herself. Personally, no matter how hurt she was by Blake's revelation, Ruby at least wanted to know why. Rose didn't care about reasons though; the symbiote was _seething._ What Rose felt, Ruby wasn't sure she could ever feel that sort of hate; hating something to its very being like that. Beyond that, though, Ruby felt fear. Rose was terrified of being outed. Of being hunted by humans. And she was willing to kill, if that was what it took to stay hidden. To kill Blake. To kill Weiss, Yang, Jaune. And that terrified Ruby.

At this point, Rose was ready to lash out at anyone or anything that might risk revealing her. All it would take was one stray remark, one ill-advised joke from Yang, and suddenly the line between what was and wasn't acceptable would get that much blurier.

Maybe too blurry.

No. Ruby had to draw the line here, before Rose took matters into her own hands. It took minutes for Ruby to find an unoccupied bathroom and lock herself in. She stalked over to the sink, resting her hands on it as she stared into the mirror. It was the closest she could do to staring Rose in the eyes.

"Rose, we need to talk."

She felt the rage in her gut dial down a notch, which was good. At least Rose was willing to listen. Ruby sighed, glaring into the mirror in front of her.

"Rose, you're overreacting. Just because Blake was hiding this one secret doesn't mean she's a bad person."

" _It is not the lie itself that bothers me,"_ Rose snapped back, " _It is the fact that Blake did it so easily, and that neither you nor I noticed it before."_

"So that means that she's a spy? Or an assassin, or something?"

" _It means that anyone we know could be one."_

Ruby paused, considering Rose's words.

"Rose… Just who do you think is after us?"

Despite what little Rose had said about her supposed pursuers, Ruby hadn't noticed anything out of the ordinary in the months since The Alley. Just who, _or what_ , had Rose so scared that she was jumping at shadows like this?

" _It... would take a long time to explain here, Ruby. More time than we have at the moment. You deserve to know the truth, though."_ Rose paused, letting out a quiet sigh. " _When things are less hectic. I promise, I will tell you."_

Ruby looked down wordlessly.

"I guess that's better than nothing." She pushed off the sink, rising to full height. "C'mon, Rose. Let's go find Blake and get some answers."

* * *

Ruby flopped on her bed with a disappointed sigh.

"Where is she," she whined, "Blake just ran off without telling us anything."

"I think she told us enough." Weiss snipped, brushing her hair as she sat below.

"C'mon Weiss, Blake isn't a bad person." Ruby poked her head below, staring Weiss down. "Don't you remember everything we did over the semester Weiss? Didn't that mean anything?"

Weiss harrumphed, turning away.

"It wouldn't be the first time someone has pretended to be my friend, only to take advantage of me."

With a sigh, Ruby pulled her head back up and laid back on her own bed. Rose was staying oddly quiet, considering what she had said earlier, about what exactly she was running from. Idly, it occurred to her that Rose and Weiss had pretty similar personalities. If Ruby could ever introduce the two, they'd probably get along swell. That or trade snide remarks until one vowed death on the other.

"Shower's open, Ruby." The bathroom door swung open and Yang walked out, her hair wrapped in a towel.

"Thanks, sis!" Jumping off her bed, Ruby grabbed her own towel and closed the bathroom door behind her. It wasn't until she had turned the water up to full blast that she spoke.

"Rose? You there?"

" _I am always here, Ruby. I would be unable to go anywhere else, even if I wished to."_

"Heh, yeah, I guess." Ruby sighed, pulling off her clothes. "So, what were you talking about earlier, about telling me the whole truth?"

" _...Yes,"_ Rose murmured, " _Admittedly, I have not been truthful with how much I can recall before we met."_

Ruby stepped into the shower, listening quietly.

" _The first thing I remember… is a laboratory. It was approximately a month before I found you, and the climate was far colder than Vale."_

"...Atlas?" Ruby muttered, rinsing her hair under the stream of water.

" _More than likely,"_ Rose agreed, " _Given the contents of the laboratory, I can only imagine that they were conducting experiments of some sort."_

"What 'contents'...?" Ruby asked cautiously.

" _Animals. Mostly smaller types, such as rats, though I saw several dogs and cats as well. I believe they used them for experimentation."_

Ruby froze.

" _After I first gained sentience, I believe one of the men whose job it was to keep me contained failed to properly do so. My mind was not as developed as it is now, still very animalistic and instinctual compared to now, but it was enough for me to escape from containment. Lacking any other desire or direction, I reverted to baser instincts: hunting for food."_

"And you eat…" Ruby trailed off. She knew what Rose was implying.

" _Indeed. After feeding off of one of the personnel, I was able to think clearly for the first time. As he was only a member of the maintenance crew, I learned little of where I was. However, I understood enough to know that I had to escape, and from there, I made my way to Vale. I believe you can figure out the rest from there."_

Ruby stood silently under the showerhead, letting the hot water wash over her shoulders as she lost herself in her thoughts. Rose kept a respectful silence, leaving only the steady patter of the shower to make a sound in the bathroom.

Finally, Ruby let out a sigh, bowing her head.

"Thanks, Rose… For telling me."

" _You deserved to know,"_ Rose replied, " _It was unfair of me to keep secrets. Even so, you would be entirely justified if you wanted nothing more to do with me. I can leave, if you wish."_

"What? No!" Ruby hissed, turning off the shower as she stepped out. "You saved my life, Rose. I'm not going to kick you out just for lying abou- Aw crap!" Ruby scurried around the bathroom. "I forgot my pyjamas outside! But it's so cold out there…"

Rose let out a low, relieved chuckle.

" _Here, try this. And thank you, Ruby."_

Ruby shivered as she felt something crawling over her bare skin. When she looked down, she nearly yelped in surprise.

"Rose! Did you do this?"

Instead of her usual clothes, Ruby was wearing a matching pyjama shirt and pants, pitch black with a bone white lining. On her right breast was a red rose, embroidered in whatever the 'fabric' was made of.

" _Consider it a token of my gratitude for being so understanding."_

Ruby could have sworn she heard a mischievous giggle underneath Rose's genuine gratitude. She took another look in the mirror, twisting her body.

 _It did look pretty nice…_

She rubbed a sleeved arm against her cheek.

It was velvety soft, almost luxuriously so. If she hadn't seen, or rather _felt_ the clothes literally growing from her body, she would have sworn they were some sort of super comfy pyjamas that only people as rich as Weiss wore. Ruby let out a small laugh.

"...Thanks Rose. I love it."

" _That is good to hear."_

Standing with one hand on the door, Ruby tried to clamp down on any errant thoughts that she was actually going to be basically walking around naked.

 _When you get down to it, everyone's naked under their clothes, right? Right!?_

"Hey Rose?"

" _Yes?"_

"Promise me not to keep any more secrets?"

" _Of course, Ruby."_ Rose's tone was light, almost amused, but Ruby felt the emphasis beneath it.

With a lighter heart than she had had earlier, Ruby opened the door to the rest of the dorm to rejoin her team.

* * *

"Weiss, just because she ran doesn't mean she's a bad person."

Ruby sighed as Yang and Weiss once more fell into argument.

"Well why else would she run, hm? The innocent don't run."

"Maybe she ran because you've made your opinions of the Faunus clear," Yang sighed, "I just think we should hear her side of the story before we jump to any conclusions."

"Well I think that when we hear it, you'll all realize _I_ was right!"

"And I think Weiss' hair looks wonderful today!"

The three girls jumped, turning to look at Penny.

"Ah!" Ruby yelped, "Penny… It's, uh, good to see you again."

"It is good to see you again too, Ruby Rose. What are you up to today?"

Ruby paused, a jolt of fear passing through her gut as Yang took up the conversation. Whatever was up with Penny, she seemed nice enough. Then again, _Blake had also seemed nice_ _ **before she turned out be a liar.**_

Ruby shook her head, clearing her own thoughts. _No,_ Blake _was_ a good person. Once they found her, then she could explain everything.

"So, where is your friend Blake?" Penny finally asked.

"We don't know," Ruby sighed, "She's been missing since yesterday."

"That's terrible," Penny gasped, "Would you like help looking for her?"

" _Careful,"_ Rose sounded amused, " _It seems your friends are attempting to leave you to deal with Penny alone."_

"What- Yang! Weiss!" Ruby turned to see her two 'teammates' fleeing down the street.

"We'll split up!" Yang called back, dragging Weiss behind her. "You take Penny! We'll meet up tonight!"

Ruby blew a raspberry in their direction, turning back to Penny.

"Well then, let's go find Blake, friend."

Penny froze, her eyes going wide.

"...Friend?"

Her hand shot forward, grabbing Ruby before she could even react. It took all her willpower to keep Rose from clawing the girl's face off.

"Let us go forth New Friend Ruby! Together we will find Blake!"

With that, Penny set out down the street, dragging Ruby behind her in an iron grip.

* * *

"So, Blake is your friend?"

Ruby sighed, having answered similar questions all day.

"Yes, Penny."

"But you're mad at her?"

"Yes? No?" Ruby ran her fingers through her hair. "Maybe, I dunno. We found out that she might be who we thought she was. I just want to hear her side of the story first."

"My father says that you should always make sure you have all the facts before making a decision. That is what he did before he made me!"

Ruby froze, turning to look at Penny.

"What?"

Penny froze, as if just having realized what she said.

"What I meant to say was… Uh, that is what I assume he did, because I was not born yet."

She hiccuped, smiling disarmingly.

" _While I doubt you believe her any more than I,"_ Rose muttered, " _We have more pressing issues at the moment, Ruby."_

Ruby nodded slightly, giving Penny a questioning look.

"Surrree." She finally said, turning back around to Penny's audible relief. "Well, we should focus on finding Blake, then-"

Both froze as a low boom rolled through the streets.

"Oh no!" Ruby gasped.

"It came from over there!" Penny exclaimed, pointing at a rising smoke cloud near the docks.

"C'mon!" Ruby grabbed Penny, sprinting in cloud's direction. " _Please be okay Blake,_ " She whispered, " _I know you're a good person…"_

By the time the two of them arrived at the docks, they could hear the sounds of gunfire echoing across the yard. Looking up at the building between them her and fight, Ruby had an idea. She turned to Penny.

"Can you find your own way around?"

The redhead nodded, running down the street. Once she was out of sight, Ruby felt Rose flowing over her arms and legs, bony claws sprouting from her fingers. Silently, she jumped at the wall, digging her claws in deep enough to hold her. With a heave, she dug in her feet and jumped again, her semblance pushing her even further. She leapfrogged up the wall the same way a few more times, finally clawing her way onto the roof. Pausing to rest, she dismissed the limbs once more, before standing back up. Looking out over the yard, she spotted Blake and that Monkey Faunus boy from yesterday dodging a falling shipping crate. Then the boy looked up, and she…

 _Saw…_

 _ **HIM!**_

" **HEEEYYY!"**

Ruby let out a roar, her blood boiling. Roman would have killed her last time, if not for Rose. She wasn't going to let him do the same to anyone else, especially not Blake.

"My, my, Red, is that you?" Roman Torchwick called out, grinning confidently. "I could have sworn that you were six feet under after our last meeting."

With a screech, Ruby jumped off the building, bringing her scythe down on Roman as she landed. The thief blocked with his cane, jumping back with a sly smile.

"Touched a nerve, did I?" He taunted, swinging his cane around. Blocking the attack, Ruby spun her Scythe, bringing the tip up from under to slash at Roman. At the moment the weapon was perpendicular to Roman, she pulled the trigger, sending him flying back in a flash of dust to collide with a stray shipping container. Skidding backwards, Ruby brought her scythe back up with a growl, ready to charge the thief once more.

"Well, well," He coughed, falling to one knee. "Where was this ferocity last time, Red? Could it be you fell for my dashing good looks?" Ruby shot him a withering glare, and he gestured to one of the Bullheads floating above. "As much as I'd like to say it's been fun, Red…"

Ruby spotted the aircraft's mounted cannons spinning up, and sprinted to dodge, a hail of bullets trailing her path as the pilots struggled to lock on to her form. Distantly, she heard Penny shouting her name, but she blocked it out. She saw Roman retreating towards one of the few Bullheads still landed, and immediately made a beeline for him. She wasn't going to let him hurt anyone else, and _if she had to kill him,_ _ **then**_ _**so be it.**_

She sprinted all out, rose petals trailing behind her as her semblance kicked in. She was halfway to the aircraft when she felt something slam into her back, sending her to the ground with cry. Looking back, she saw the last Bullhead falling out of the sky, spinning as Penny yanked it out of the sky. Dazed, Ruby could only watch as Roman's Bullhead lifted off, the thief giving her a wary look before closing the door behind him.

"Ruby!" She heard Penny running up behind her, "Are you injured?"

"No," Ruby winced, rubbing her back where she had been hit, "I think my Aura blocked it. Thanks for the save, Penny."

"Of course, Ruby," Penny smiled innocently, "You are my friend. I would never let my friends be injured if I could help it."

Ruby smiled slightly, standing up.

"Yeah, me neither. Let's go find Blake."

* * *

Ruby sat a ways away from the rest of the group, smiling lightly as Blake and Weiss made up. She was happy to see her team back together, but also to know the truth from Blake. She really hadn't been doing anything malicious, she just wanted to get away from her less than savory past. Ruby could swear she felt a pang of sympathy from Rose when Blake told her about running from the White Fang. The two of them were just decent people wrapped up in things beyond their power.

Ruby chuckled. She really did think of Rose as a person now, didn't she? She was just as human as anyone else. _Well,_ Ruby thought with a smirk, remembering some of Rose's… less normal tendencies, _more or less._ With a sigh, Ruby looked back down at her own hands.

 _How easy would it have been for her to kill Roman, if she had gotten the chance?_

She remembered the feeling of rage that had overtaken her when she had spotted him. She had genuinely wanted to kill him. _Would_ have killed him.

Ruby shook her head, burying her face in her hands. This wasn't her. She wouldn't kill anyone, would she?

"Hey, Ruby!" Ruby looked up to see Yang walking towards her. "You alright sis?"

"I-…" Ruby sighed again, her eyes misting over. "I saw Roman at the docks tonight."

Yang gasped quietly, putting her hand on Ruby's shoulder.

"Are you alright?" Ruby looked up at her, holding her sister's steady gaze.

"Yeah… I'm alright. I just-"

"Ruby." Yang pulled her into a hug, "If you want to talk, I'm here. I'll listen."

" _And for what you cannot tell Yang, I will listen as well."_ Rose added.

Ruby sobbed into her sister's shoulder, holding back tears.

"Thank you, Yang…"

' _And thank you too, Rose.'_ She added, mentally.

* * *

 **Phew. Another chapter done. I know I was gone for longer than I (And I'm sure you all) like, but hey, least I got something out.**

 **Anyway, things are looking up for me right now, which is nice. Had a lot of ideas for other fics, which distracted me from this, wrote a chapter for one, didn't like it, and then got bitch-slapped with inspiration to get back on this. Which is nice. Final result is this pretty little number, which neatly wraps up Canon Season One, sets the way for things to progress through Season three, and then we can start with major divergences from the canon plot.**

 **Sort of. Rooster Teeth kind of beat me to the punch with one specific idea in Season Five, but I won't tell you which. ;)**


End file.
